Friday, February 6, 2009

Top Chef: February 4 Episode--Eric Ripert

Jamie got told to pack her knives and go this week on Bravo's Top Chef. I'd grown to like Jamie. She'd started out seeming like the stereotypical angry lesbian cook who's been on Top Chef before. But instead she turned out to be kind of cute, sweet and likable. Stephan, the Finn, was smitten with Jamie.

Jamie had to go due to having trouble replicating one of Eric Ripert's signature dishes from his Le Bernardin restaurant. Jamie made the celery way too salty.

The incredibly annoying, temporary, Brit Judge, Toby (Tubby) Young, had some sort of ridiculous analogy to describe how bad he though the salty celery was. Trouble with that Brit judge, his insults seem a bit like fellow Brit, Simon Cowell's, like he's pre-planned his little verbal flourishes and then waits for a spot to plug it in. He seems like a little weasel to me.

Stephan, the cocky, with reason, Finn, Fabio the funny Italian and Carla the very funny American, did the best job of replicating the Eric Ripert seafood dishes. Hosea, Leah were the other bad ones, besides Jamie's.

I don't understand why Leah and Hosea are still there. They seem way over their heads, botching their fish cutting, screwing other stuff up, giving up, and yet Jamie gets the boot. I don't get it.

Hosea and Leah, they of the moment of weakness that ended in a smooch, are still cooking, while the competent Jeff got told to pack his knives, the week before, and Ariane the week before that. Or was it Radhika the week before, for botching Restaurant Wars? All three seemed way more competent than Hosea and Leah. This is not the first time I've been perplexed by Top Chef.

Carla for the win. And then figure out how to make her a fixture on Top Chef. I'm sure she'll win fan favorite. But, then again, I'm usually wrong about such things. She's just so darn funny.

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