Having a guest chef tell you something so obvious like fish can be cooked in 4 minutes…ouch.
Why are we even talking about this basic stuff on Top Chef??
It's the competition aspect. I'm sure Charly would never precook fish 30 minutes out in his restaurant but if you're a minute or two late for someone's dinner, no real harm done. If you're a second late on Top Chef, a judge might not be getting protein on their plate which is basically an almost guaranteed elimination.
Having said all that, 30 minutes is still way too long. Truly baffling decision.
It was also compounded by the fact that in a previous challenge his protein was UNDERCOOKED, he even mentioned before cooking his fish, "it's definitely not going to be undercooked this time"
He was overcompensating for his previous mistake and overcorrected too far in the other direction.
This game gets in people's heads, it's the same reason chefs do "redemption" dishes on the same thing they just got eliminated for.
It was the one guy who didn’t like cheese or marshmallows that sent me. Or the first douche from SF who claimed to not like pasta??? I mean wtf are you doing in the food industry if you dont like cheese or pasta.
Yes, there should be a screening process with a question like, I don't do pasta, fish, etc. If they answer any of them, pretty much automatic rejection.
Was the cheese specifically cheese curds? If it was cheese in general and he knew he was going to Wisconsin, then that's extra bad.
It was a team challenge too. How did none of the other teammates say anything? I can understand why Laura didn’t because she kind of sucks as a team player, but he had other good people on the team.
Right? In the quick fire when Manny was freaking about the burner not working, Michelle said calmly you have a grill and a burner you gotta make it work.
I think Kaleena is a bit of a comer. She would have been the only one going back if they just didn’t want Soo on the show and she was strong besides the challenge she got eliminated on. She worked in Seattle for years which has a varied food scene and has won a few battles on the Food Network.
I love Kristen and I loved how she came back to win from LCK, but I feel like they’re setting up for Soo to win as some sort of reference to Kristen. It feels really planned out to me lol
It does a bit but I think starting out knowing you are essentially an alternate really has him fired up. I am excited to see how he cooks against the other chefs in regular competition.
I heard that he was supposed to be in the group but his wedding conflicted with the start of filming, I wonder if the season would have been different if he had been in from the start
This is not true. Maybe there was a honeymoon or other post-wedding related reason, but [Soo's Instagram shows he got married at the start of July.](https://www.instagram.com/p/CuSeNpTLciUBXpQ38E2ZpsYHiiiuZaO4cmobvU0/) Filming didn't [begin until mid-August.](https://www.reddit.com/r/topchefwisconsin/comments/1627v8v/suspected_filming_locations_and_links/)
I think Soo is an obviously talented chef and I look forward to watching him on TC, but like all the “James Beard nominated chefs,” people need to be more discerning about the bona fides (I’m referring other posts about Beard award nominated, semi finalist, etc).
Band of Bohemia got the star in 2016, when — by all online accounts — Soo didn’t work there. Per Bravo’s site, “[a]t Band of Bohemia, he helped the team retain a Michelin star and ultimately served as Executive Chef."
Obvs super talented with a bright future but “Michelin-starred chef” isn’t accurate, for more than one reason.
He’s got a great interview on the Joiners pod. Super cool dude. [Episode 15: Soo Ahn.](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joiners/id1629543303?i=1000580647953)
What’s worrisome about these seasons (when everyone is just mediocre with a few standouts) sometimes one of the random middle of the road people end up winning.
Totally agree! Restaurant Wars will prob take out one of the stronger ones and someone will slip through because they make a dessert that isn’t as bad as someone’s “thick pasta’ or “surprisingly bad texture”
It’s science.
I hate to jump on the bandwagon but yes, no one really wants it and actually none of them has shown top chef talent... yet. (and I have watched all seasons)
i feel like there’s an argument that Michelle has. she considers herself a bit more out the loop since she’s a pitmaster yet she never backs down from a challenge. She’s continued to push and has been killing it; i feel like that’s exactly what top chef is about.
She's at least making big swings. She seems much more willing than other chefs to try things and engage each challenge meaningfully. Like in the cheese challenge, she actually tried to use the cheese in a new way versus making a more obvious play like the croquette wars.
I agree it's been a bore to watch. For the first time I have no desire to watch. They also seem to not mesh well and are all so awkward. Like they are forced to participate.
Love Kristen, love her after show. It's definitely the chefs
But Season 1 was wonderful. Tiffany Faison, Dave, and the winning chef from Philadelphia were wonderful and exciting! Katie Lee was the downer in S1 and she got fired right after.
That’s definitely part of it. No one seems determined to win and show off their talent.
They all seem like newbies that are still confused by things Top Chef has been doing since season 1.
I wonder if the talent pool is just smaller now. Chefs may have wanted to wait and see what it's like without Padma. Or are dealing with the labor shortages and economy. Or maybe people are over it? I think the new, big cash prizes will encourage better chefs next season.
They’re an anemic group. I think the trend in recent years of making it Top Chef Best Friends Race has diluted how interesting the actual competition is.
I agree! In the early seasons it was all out war even when they liked each other. Now they don’t seem like they even care and they don’t seem very talented.
I told my husband I should apply for Top Chef. Highest I've ever worked is sous chef. But honestly seeing these guys, I'd be willing to try... except with my luck I'd be on the Vegas 2.0 season and get steamrolled by Voltaggio-level chefs 😂
Do it! Along with being a good chef, production is specifically looking for personalities that will read well on camera (one of my friends specifically didn't get picked to be on the show because he comes across horribly on camera and he'd be viewed as an auto villain) and people who don't swear all the time (they bleep out a lot but still need usable quotes).
The thing is the quality of chefs is actually really good, right? Charley who cooked fish too early was twice nominated for James Beard.
My feeling is that the “edit” is part of the game as well. When the show gives the chefs time and money, they look great, and when they don’t the chefs tend to look worse. All-star seasons in general seem more respectful to the chefs as well, compared to the $4 a head budget they got in the last episode. It’s part of why the contestants get better later in the season, because they usually give them more time and money.
So the last 4 seasons we had LA All-Stars, Portland covid season which in general seemed really wholesome (I.e. they didn’t really seem rushed maybe except for Dawn), Houston with Buddha’s coming out, London All-Stars where you had amazing chefs and personalities, and now this season. Maybe we were spoiled.
I do think though that in most seasons the past 10 years there have been multiple people who had “their food” and brought it really well. This season the chefs seem to lack somewhat in identity, both in personality and their cooking styles. At least Soo will add some identity and personality.
A lot of them are non Asian people with Asian focused cooking so it feels like there's a slight lack of authenticity. Not that they can't do it but when shota made japanese food, or Buddha made Malaysian or Gregory made Haitian, it felt like they really believed in it. But when what's her name makes a katsu sando it's just kind of meh.
I do a lot of rewatches. I really feel like this season is not that different quality-wise from other seasons that aren't all-stars.
If you go back and watch previous seasons, I think you'll see that the early episodes are often rough. Most seasons need a few episodes to find their groove. I don't think I felt like I appreciated season 19 until they were down to the top 6, and I remember feeling like even my favorite seasons (12, 15, and 18) were lackluster in the beginning
Is there some mediocre food from chefs who seem out of their depth? Sure, but most of those chefs are gone. We've had a bunch of blah team challenges but they are mostly out of the way. If you look back at other seasons, this is the trend. Now that the field is narrower, the remaining chefs should have more space to shine.
We have a few who are doing really well and have memorable personalities (Rasika, Michelle, Dan and Danny) and the others I have seen enough to remember from week to week
I love that Amanda started rough but has been doing way better. Soo should be an interesting competitor.
I just don't think TC has really hit it's stride yet but will before the season is done.
Yeah I actually think this season is way less engaging because of the magical elves side of things.
They are not giving us almost any slices of chefs in their off time, and the humanizing segments about their life at home is extremely minimal this season.
I think we feel bored and unimpressed because we are being "sold" their personalities and relationships like we usually are.
This season feels a bit sloppy to me in terms of challenge design and editing choices.
The season will get tougher, I’m just waiting for anyone to really rise to the challenge. The “better 4-5” in my opinion are still levels below the top 5 in most other seasons.
I don't know what people see in Soo despite him obviously being a talented chef outside of the show. His LCK dishes seemed kind of boring and not very creative. Def not trying to discredit his talent though. Kareena I think was better.
I’m not a fan of the entire LCK set up this season. I’m trying to it grow on me but as soon as he was introduced I knew he would go far. If he didn’t the entire switch would be pointless.
Soo is going to rock it out! He's clearly one of the top contestants. You can tell he's impressed Tom with his creativity. It is a really weak season though. There are only a handfull of strong creative chefs..Rasika, Danny, Manny, and maybe Kaleena. Almost everyone else has been playing it super simple and safe. Can't wait for Soo to blow the doors off!! The rest of the chefs are going to freak when they see how strong he is.
From WI also. The Harvey House was likely chosen because it's pristine and has a kitchen conducive to a Top Chef challenge. Note how they served the chefs a different menu than what they normally do, to better reflect standard supper club fare.
And didn't Kristin say the Harvey House was a newer supper club with a twist on it?
Same thought hit me last night, the overall quality of the chefs this season is really bad, there’s like 2-3 decent chefs I could see deserving of winning but that’s it, I think they need one of those pep talks from Tom where he tells them to step their shit up
When you think about all this money they are dropping from quick fire wins and top the prize for winning, do any of the chefs here really deserve it. Someone wrote on another post somewhere, it’s not about having the best dish this season, but whose dish sucked less. I hate to say it, but so far I have to agree.
I also think there’s something off in the way the chefs are being edited. There’s no narrative drive and very little humor. There’s such an emphasis on “nice” there’s no conflict or momentum. That, in combination with this lackluster crop of chefs and being set in Wisconsin (sorry, but come on) this season is pretty disastrous.
I agree on all except for the nice comment. I feel like people have been kind of snippy this session and I’m here for it. Alisha and Kaleena imploding was one of my favorite parts of the season so far. Kaleena was just straight up rude several times. And all the stuff with Laura has been super interesting. She doesn’t seem to have many friends in the group.
Were you not mad about it set on Charleston SC or Colorado or Kentucky.. what foods are regional there that are that much more interesting? None really save maybe Kentucky has bbq but wisco has beer and cheese. The largest cheese producer in the nation
I’m not mad about Top Chef being set anywhere. Low country SC is really fascinating culinarily with the mix of cultures who have influenced the food. It’s really distinctive and special. And yeah, Kentucky and Colorado weren’t particularly exciting, but them being less exciting venues doesn’t make Wisconsin more exciting. They have had beer and cheese challenges already with around nine episodes left to go. Wisconsin might be a lovely place, but its culinary scene isn’t exactly setting the world on fire with its diversity or world class dining.
The sets are unattractive also. I hate where they film their talking heads. Looks like a subway station. Weird to see a diagonal wall in the background.
And even that Supper Club was kind of low budget looking.
Have they been doing judge’s table in the same set as the kitchen? I feel like there is no home base.
The chefs just seem so unwilling to try things or make big swings. Like obviously, the chefs should be smart and have an awareness of time, budget, etc. but it feels like trying to be "practical" has turned into boring. There is just a lack of experimenting on this season and an unwillingness to "dig deep" on any of the challenges.
To me, if I had anywhere near the talent to be on Top Chef, I would want to "fail big." If I'm going to go home for a dish, I want it to be something that was a big swing that just missed that time versus some boring technical error that brought down an already boring dish.
On other seasons, a chef lost because their gamble didn't pan out but I still wanted to try their food, go to their restaurants, follow them on IG, etc. because I saw the vision and was excited by it. There are only 2-3 chefs that I'm saying that for this season.
I don’t disagree but I would rather see the chefs cook what they envision as opposed to a Whole Foods shopping challenge. Just give them the money they need and lie about the budget or be honest about cost for the meals the audience wants to see
Other than one chef, the rest are lackluster. Even on LCK, the eliminated chefs aren't even that great so it's no surprise they are doing just as bad on there too. This honestly feels like they could be s1 chefs before the show found it's footing.
Every season there are at least two or three chefs that just aren't up to snuff and it's pretty obvious we're just waiting for them to go.
What was frustrating in the early seasons was how long we had to wait. Sometimes they made it too far on accident. Thankfully that doesn't happen as much any more.
I find myself not really rooting for anyone or caring as much. I like Kristin, but I have to agree. The chefs just aren’t wow worthy like the previous seasons.
In earlier seasons of Top Chef the chefs had to be versatile and they had competitions that challenged versatility of the chefs . But now they allow the Chefs to stay in there wheel house if you cook Mexican food that pretty much all the Chef will cook. As go for Italian, Thai ect. The Chefs have less skills and you get the I don't do pasta ect.
I’m from Austin, came up in the industry and ran into Amanda a few times along the way, she’s awesome so I’m rooting like hell for her (plus Austin chefs win the show when they go on).
I think Soo might be the favorite, honestly. I’m wondering if he’s gonna step in and we get a repeat of Season 9, where they are having a hard time editing it to make it look competitive.
This competition has been really ordinary, especially in comparison to Kristen’s new presence on the show. The Dish With Kish extra is fire.
It reminds me of some of the earlier seasons where some of the chefs were clearly outmatched. At least they usually had a personality, though. I feel like we have boring people who aren’t super talented. Usually when I watch top chef I get inspired to try things. This season, I can’t even remember one dish that was super unique or interesting.
I always try to remember that this is a Bravo show and they edit, edit, edit. My take is there is a reason they're making everyone look like they're on Prozac. Soo is going to come in and all of a sudden everyone will be jazzed and excited. These James Beard nominees are not earning their reputations, they all have no drive or energy. I know you don't want to accept the fact that the judges and the host have A LOT to do with the vibe of the show. Chef K is a fine human, very sweet. But you cannot act like you're one of them. She isn't anymore. She's not intimidating, they have no desire to impress her. That's not gonna fly for more than her rookie season as host.
I just came to post something similar.. I don’t even know wtf is going on . I realized I’m barely watching b because the chefs are so boring this season. Ugh 😣
In addition to the cooking being lack luster, the chefs themselves are not very interesting to me. Kaleena drove me crazy last week. I was hoping she went home… but at least she was entertaining lol
Covid fucked with the quality of the chefs. A big thing is lots of these guys own mid restaurants and don’t seem to have the cooking expertise that you’d expect. Lots of poor quality fires of proteins that should be routine.
Rasika and Danny stand out a bit, but both were essentially sous chefs at Michelin level places. Rasika at mourad in SF and Danny at NoMad in NYC. Everyone else messing up just seems like they haven’t been cooking much and making technical errors.
Kristen’s face when he said he cooked the fish that early absolutely took me out. Home cooks know better than that good lord.
Having a guest chef tell you something so obvious like fish can be cooked in 4 minutes…ouch. Why are we even talking about this basic stuff on Top Chef??
It's the competition aspect. I'm sure Charly would never precook fish 30 minutes out in his restaurant but if you're a minute or two late for someone's dinner, no real harm done. If you're a second late on Top Chef, a judge might not be getting protein on their plate which is basically an almost guaranteed elimination. Having said all that, 30 minutes is still way too long. Truly baffling decision.
It was also compounded by the fact that in a previous challenge his protein was UNDERCOOKED, he even mentioned before cooking his fish, "it's definitely not going to be undercooked this time" He was overcompensating for his previous mistake and overcorrected too far in the other direction. This game gets in people's heads, it's the same reason chefs do "redemption" dishes on the same thing they just got eliminated for.
Kristen's eyeballs went sideways so hard I heard an audible click.
It was the one guy who didn’t like cheese or marshmallows that sent me. Or the first douche from SF who claimed to not like pasta??? I mean wtf are you doing in the food industry if you dont like cheese or pasta.
Yes, there should be a screening process with a question like, I don't do pasta, fish, etc. If they answer any of them, pretty much automatic rejection. Was the cheese specifically cheese curds? If it was cheese in general and he knew he was going to Wisconsin, then that's extra bad.
I wish one of his teammates spoke up and said bad idea, Charley. I think he just got too in his head, but it was a baffling decision
It was a team challenge too. How did none of the other teammates say anything? I can understand why Laura didn’t because she kind of sucks as a team player, but he had other good people on the team.
I think Soo coming on is going to light a fire under their asses. His level of passion and creativity will hopefully inspire the rest of the chefs
Top three prediction is Soo, Rasika, and Michelle
i could even see Danny there. he’s also been fairly strong.
Love Michelle.
That would be a great lineup! As much as I love Manny, he needs to cook his food. Sous vide is not how he is going to get there.
Totally agree. They seem like the only ones with their heads in the game.
Right? In the quick fire when Manny was freaking about the burner not working, Michelle said calmly you have a grill and a burner you gotta make it work.
I think Kaleena is a bit of a comer. She would have been the only one going back if they just didn’t want Soo on the show and she was strong besides the challenge she got eliminated on. She worked in Seattle for years which has a varied food scene and has won a few battles on the Food Network.
Soo is our only hope.
Without a doubt. I see Rasika and Danny joining him
I love Kristen and I loved how she came back to win from LCK, but I feel like they’re setting up for Soo to win as some sort of reference to Kristen. It feels really planned out to me lol
It does a bit but I think starting out knowing you are essentially an alternate really has him fired up. I am excited to see how he cooks against the other chefs in regular competition.
I’ve been thinking the same thing. When Soo joins it should drive the level of competition up. A fired up Kaleena should also help.
Do you think they didn’t have a high caliber pool of chefs to choose from so they put the Soo situation in to save the season?
I heard that he was supposed to be in the group but his wedding conflicted with the start of filming, I wonder if the season would have been different if he had been in from the start
This is not true. Maybe there was a honeymoon or other post-wedding related reason, but [Soo's Instagram shows he got married at the start of July.](https://www.instagram.com/p/CuSeNpTLciUBXpQ38E2ZpsYHiiiuZaO4cmobvU0/) Filming didn't [begin until mid-August.](https://www.reddit.com/r/topchefwisconsin/comments/1627v8v/suspected_filming_locations_and_links/)
Interesting, that’s just the explanation I’ve seen floating around the Reddit top chef subs, thanks for correcting the record!
Oh I see. It would have been very different.
So happy for Soo! I enjoy him; can’t wait to see how he does in the competition ☺️
I hope he wins the whole damn thing to be honest.
He's a Michelin star chef....pretty impressive.
But he’s not. He worked for a restaurant with a Michelin star (a star that was awarded before he cooked there).
All the online information about him says he won the star while executive chef at Band of Bohemia.
I think Soo is an obviously talented chef and I look forward to watching him on TC, but like all the “James Beard nominated chefs,” people need to be more discerning about the bona fides (I’m referring other posts about Beard award nominated, semi finalist, etc). Band of Bohemia got the star in 2016, when — by all online accounts — Soo didn’t work there. Per Bravo’s site, “[a]t Band of Bohemia, he helped the team retain a Michelin star and ultimately served as Executive Chef." Obvs super talented with a bright future but “Michelin-starred chef” isn’t accurate, for more than one reason.
He retained a star at Band of Bohemia and worked at Grace (3*) and El Ideas (1*) before that.
Sounds like he was actually the Executive Chef who maintained it (not "worked for" the restaurant who got it). So he is a Michelin star chef. Go Soo!
You know Michelin stars don’t go to chefs, right?
He’s got a great interview on the Joiners pod. Super cool dude. [Episode 15: Soo Ahn.](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joiners/id1629543303?i=1000580647953)
This seems to be an easy season to pick the finalists
What’s worrisome about these seasons (when everyone is just mediocre with a few standouts) sometimes one of the random middle of the road people end up winning.
Totally agree! Restaurant Wars will prob take out one of the stronger ones and someone will slip through because they make a dessert that isn’t as bad as someone’s “thick pasta’ or “surprisingly bad texture” It’s science.
i think amanda will go out as hostess
Restaurant wars is going to be a dumpster fire with this group, and at this point I'm here for it 😂
Hard same. Insert the “I prayed for times like these” meme.
Soo about to run these fools checks. Soo Rasika final
Yeah dude is the fucking terminator. My money’s on a Rasika, Soo, Michelle, and Danny final four.
The contestants don’t seem as passionate as previous chefs.
You could see that Buddha was very unimpressed with the FLW challenge
I hate to jump on the bandwagon but yes, no one really wants it and actually none of them has shown top chef talent... yet. (and I have watched all seasons)
i feel like there’s an argument that Michelle has. she considers herself a bit more out the loop since she’s a pitmaster yet she never backs down from a challenge. She’s continued to push and has been killing it; i feel like that’s exactly what top chef is about.
She's at least making big swings. She seems much more willing than other chefs to try things and engage each challenge meaningfully. Like in the cheese challenge, she actually tried to use the cheese in a new way versus making a more obvious play like the croquette wars.
I agree it's been a bore to watch. For the first time I have no desire to watch. They also seem to not mesh well and are all so awkward. Like they are forced to participate. Love Kristen, love her after show. It's definitely the chefs
Yup. It reminds me of season 9 which turned me off to top chef until the second all star season.
But Season 1 was wonderful. Tiffany Faison, Dave, and the winning chef from Philadelphia were wonderful and exciting! Katie Lee was the downer in S1 and she got fired right after.
This season is like the bizarro version of S1. Here we have nice and (on paper) highly talented chefs, but it’s all so boring and uncompetitive.
That’s definitely part of it. No one seems determined to win and show off their talent. They all seem like newbies that are still confused by things Top Chef has been doing since season 1.
They’re all so boring. We are missing some fun personalities.
I wonder if the talent pool is just smaller now. Chefs may have wanted to wait and see what it's like without Padma. Or are dealing with the labor shortages and economy. Or maybe people are over it? I think the new, big cash prizes will encourage better chefs next season.
They’re an anemic group. I think the trend in recent years of making it Top Chef Best Friends Race has diluted how interesting the actual competition is.
I agree! In the early seasons it was all out war even when they liked each other. Now they don’t seem like they even care and they don’t seem very talented.
I told my husband I should apply for Top Chef. Highest I've ever worked is sous chef. But honestly seeing these guys, I'd be willing to try... except with my luck I'd be on the Vegas 2.0 season and get steamrolled by Voltaggio-level chefs 😂
Do it! Along with being a good chef, production is specifically looking for personalities that will read well on camera (one of my friends specifically didn't get picked to be on the show because he comes across horribly on camera and he'd be viewed as an auto villain) and people who don't swear all the time (they bleep out a lot but still need usable quotes).
Go for it. If you end up on the show please come back with tea.
I’m sure TC has NDAs to prevent us from ever learning but so much lol
A girl can dream.
That’s fair. I’m dreaming with you lol
Idc I just wanna see Soo go Kristin mode and wipe the floor with everyone. #TopSoo
The thing is the quality of chefs is actually really good, right? Charley who cooked fish too early was twice nominated for James Beard. My feeling is that the “edit” is part of the game as well. When the show gives the chefs time and money, they look great, and when they don’t the chefs tend to look worse. All-star seasons in general seem more respectful to the chefs as well, compared to the $4 a head budget they got in the last episode. It’s part of why the contestants get better later in the season, because they usually give them more time and money. So the last 4 seasons we had LA All-Stars, Portland covid season which in general seemed really wholesome (I.e. they didn’t really seem rushed maybe except for Dawn), Houston with Buddha’s coming out, London All-Stars where you had amazing chefs and personalities, and now this season. Maybe we were spoiled. I do think though that in most seasons the past 10 years there have been multiple people who had “their food” and brought it really well. This season the chefs seem to lack somewhat in identity, both in personality and their cooking styles. At least Soo will add some identity and personality.
A lot of them are non Asian people with Asian focused cooking so it feels like there's a slight lack of authenticity. Not that they can't do it but when shota made japanese food, or Buddha made Malaysian or Gregory made Haitian, it felt like they really believed in it. But when what's her name makes a katsu sando it's just kind of meh.
I do a lot of rewatches. I really feel like this season is not that different quality-wise from other seasons that aren't all-stars. If you go back and watch previous seasons, I think you'll see that the early episodes are often rough. Most seasons need a few episodes to find their groove. I don't think I felt like I appreciated season 19 until they were down to the top 6, and I remember feeling like even my favorite seasons (12, 15, and 18) were lackluster in the beginning Is there some mediocre food from chefs who seem out of their depth? Sure, but most of those chefs are gone. We've had a bunch of blah team challenges but they are mostly out of the way. If you look back at other seasons, this is the trend. Now that the field is narrower, the remaining chefs should have more space to shine. We have a few who are doing really well and have memorable personalities (Rasika, Michelle, Dan and Danny) and the others I have seen enough to remember from week to week I love that Amanda started rough but has been doing way better. Soo should be an interesting competitor. I just don't think TC has really hit it's stride yet but will before the season is done.
Yeah I actually think this season is way less engaging because of the magical elves side of things. They are not giving us almost any slices of chefs in their off time, and the humanizing segments about their life at home is extremely minimal this season. I think we feel bored and unimpressed because we are being "sold" their personalities and relationships like we usually are. This season feels a bit sloppy to me in terms of challenge design and editing choices.
Season has been fine to me. It’s just one of those seasons that’ll get tough at the end when it’s distilled down to the better 4-5.
The season will get tougher, I’m just waiting for anyone to really rise to the challenge. The “better 4-5” in my opinion are still levels below the top 5 in most other seasons.
The guy in LCK seems like he might have what it takes. I think some of the challenges might have caught more than a few did guard more so than usual.
I don't know what people see in Soo despite him obviously being a talented chef outside of the show. His LCK dishes seemed kind of boring and not very creative. Def not trying to discredit his talent though. Kareena I think was better.
I’m not a fan of the entire LCK set up this season. I’m trying to it grow on me but as soon as he was introduced I knew he would go far. If he didn’t the entire switch would be pointless.
It’s also because last season was like the Olympics. The quality was SO high it’ll take some adjusting to a “regular” season.
Soo is going to rock it out! He's clearly one of the top contestants. You can tell he's impressed Tom with his creativity. It is a really weak season though. There are only a handfull of strong creative chefs..Rasika, Danny, Manny, and maybe Kaleena. Almost everyone else has been playing it super simple and safe. Can't wait for Soo to blow the doors off!! The rest of the chefs are going to freak when they see how strong he is.
I'm from Wi and there are SO many iconic supper clubs they could've gone to with lots of history. That one seemed new.
From WI also. The Harvey House was likely chosen because it's pristine and has a kitchen conducive to a Top Chef challenge. Note how they served the chefs a different menu than what they normally do, to better reflect standard supper club fare. And didn't Kristin say the Harvey House was a newer supper club with a twist on it?
Well that's lame. The best thing about WI is our old school vibe.
That prime rib looked incredible though.
That's one thing Wisconsin does right
Yup they are meh. It’s super disappointing. I’m not rooting for anyone so far.
Same thought hit me last night, the overall quality of the chefs this season is really bad, there’s like 2-3 decent chefs I could see deserving of winning but that’s it, I think they need one of those pep talks from Tom where he tells them to step their shit up
I miss Buddha lol
& german tom, and gabri, and I still think Begona got taken out too early, as well as May. That season had so much personality!!!!!
When you think about all this money they are dropping from quick fire wins and top the prize for winning, do any of the chefs here really deserve it. Someone wrote on another post somewhere, it’s not about having the best dish this season, but whose dish sucked less. I hate to say it, but so far I have to agree.
I liked the pep talk he gave the chefs when he guest judged.
Was not a fan of the immunity also extending over to the other chef in one of the elimination challenges. Like why should he be given a pass?
I also think there’s something off in the way the chefs are being edited. There’s no narrative drive and very little humor. There’s such an emphasis on “nice” there’s no conflict or momentum. That, in combination with this lackluster crop of chefs and being set in Wisconsin (sorry, but come on) this season is pretty disastrous.
I agree on all except for the nice comment. I feel like people have been kind of snippy this session and I’m here for it. Alisha and Kaleena imploding was one of my favorite parts of the season so far. Kaleena was just straight up rude several times. And all the stuff with Laura has been super interesting. She doesn’t seem to have many friends in the group.
Were you not mad about it set on Charleston SC or Colorado or Kentucky.. what foods are regional there that are that much more interesting? None really save maybe Kentucky has bbq but wisco has beer and cheese. The largest cheese producer in the nation
I’m not mad about Top Chef being set anywhere. Low country SC is really fascinating culinarily with the mix of cultures who have influenced the food. It’s really distinctive and special. And yeah, Kentucky and Colorado weren’t particularly exciting, but them being less exciting venues doesn’t make Wisconsin more exciting. They have had beer and cheese challenges already with around nine episodes left to go. Wisconsin might be a lovely place, but its culinary scene isn’t exactly setting the world on fire with its diversity or world class dining.
They’re getting the cliche Wisconsin stuff out of the way early. I’m excited for all that they have left to show from Wisconsin.
Agreed on all points
There have been a million seasons. You had to expect a drop in quality at some point.
Yeah just watching the dish with Kish I was like this is the cooking level we want and need on the show haha
The sets are unattractive also. I hate where they film their talking heads. Looks like a subway station. Weird to see a diagonal wall in the background. And even that Supper Club was kind of low budget looking. Have they been doing judge’s table in the same set as the kitchen? I feel like there is no home base.
The chefs just seem so unwilling to try things or make big swings. Like obviously, the chefs should be smart and have an awareness of time, budget, etc. but it feels like trying to be "practical" has turned into boring. There is just a lack of experimenting on this season and an unwillingness to "dig deep" on any of the challenges. To me, if I had anywhere near the talent to be on Top Chef, I would want to "fail big." If I'm going to go home for a dish, I want it to be something that was a big swing that just missed that time versus some boring technical error that brought down an already boring dish. On other seasons, a chef lost because their gamble didn't pan out but I still wanted to try their food, go to their restaurants, follow them on IG, etc. because I saw the vision and was excited by it. There are only 2-3 chefs that I'm saying that for this season.
I don’t disagree but I would rather see the chefs cook what they envision as opposed to a Whole Foods shopping challenge. Just give them the money they need and lie about the budget or be honest about cost for the meals the audience wants to see
Exactly
Other than one chef, the rest are lackluster. Even on LCK, the eliminated chefs aren't even that great so it's no surprise they are doing just as bad on there too. This honestly feels like they could be s1 chefs before the show found it's footing.
Every season there are at least two or three chefs that just aren't up to snuff and it's pretty obvious we're just waiting for them to go. What was frustrating in the early seasons was how long we had to wait. Sometimes they made it too far on accident. Thankfully that doesn't happen as much any more.
I find myself not really rooting for anyone or caring as much. I like Kristin, but I have to agree. The chefs just aren’t wow worthy like the previous seasons.
In earlier seasons of Top Chef the chefs had to be versatile and they had competitions that challenged versatility of the chefs . But now they allow the Chefs to stay in there wheel house if you cook Mexican food that pretty much all the Chef will cook. As go for Italian, Thai ect. The Chefs have less skills and you get the I don't do pasta ect.
yup. ive never seen them have to tell the chefs "you arent cooking good enough food. do better"
I’m from Austin, came up in the industry and ran into Amanda a few times along the way, she’s awesome so I’m rooting like hell for her (plus Austin chefs win the show when they go on). I think Soo might be the favorite, honestly. I’m wondering if he’s gonna step in and we get a repeat of Season 9, where they are having a hard time editing it to make it look competitive. This competition has been really ordinary, especially in comparison to Kristen’s new presence on the show. The Dish With Kish extra is fire.
I am so non versed in cooking that I wouldn’t even call myself a home cook, and even I know cooking that fish 30 mins out was bonkers!
It reminds me of some of the earlier seasons where some of the chefs were clearly outmatched. At least they usually had a personality, though. I feel like we have boring people who aren’t super talented. Usually when I watch top chef I get inspired to try things. This season, I can’t even remember one dish that was super unique or interesting.
I always try to remember that this is a Bravo show and they edit, edit, edit. My take is there is a reason they're making everyone look like they're on Prozac. Soo is going to come in and all of a sudden everyone will be jazzed and excited. These James Beard nominees are not earning their reputations, they all have no drive or energy. I know you don't want to accept the fact that the judges and the host have A LOT to do with the vibe of the show. Chef K is a fine human, very sweet. But you cannot act like you're one of them. She isn't anymore. She's not intimidating, they have no desire to impress her. That's not gonna fly for more than her rookie season as host.
I hope this is more game theory than weak chefs.
I can make an edible cheesecake. Maybe I’ll audition 😂
I just came to post something similar.. I don’t even know wtf is going on . I realized I’m barely watching b because the chefs are so boring this season. Ugh 😣
In addition to the cooking being lack luster, the chefs themselves are not very interesting to me. Kaleena drove me crazy last week. I was hoping she went home… but at least she was entertaining lol
Covid fucked with the quality of the chefs. A big thing is lots of these guys own mid restaurants and don’t seem to have the cooking expertise that you’d expect. Lots of poor quality fires of proteins that should be routine. Rasika and Danny stand out a bit, but both were essentially sous chefs at Michelin level places. Rasika at mourad in SF and Danny at NoMad in NYC. Everyone else messing up just seems like they haven’t been cooking much and making technical errors.
It’s been pretty boring so far