Top Chef Recap 5.8: Down on the Farm

by partysugar

Jan 15 2009

Top Chef was back last night with an entertaining episode that promoted eating local, seasonal, fresh-from-the-farm cuisine. It was fun to see the cheftestants out of the city. Dan Barber and Top Chef season 3 winner Hung Huynh were the guest judges. To chat about everything that happened and who got kicked off (warning: spoilers ahead), read more.

Were you glad to see Hung? I was!
What did you think of the rapid, processed food quickfire challenge? Was spam a sponsor, or what?
If Hosea had not shared the spam, could Stefan still have won?
Leah and Hosea? Stefan and Jamie? Do you think the teams were set up?
Did Ariane have any input on her team's menu?
What was your favorite Fabio moment? Mine was "trees everywhere...doesn't look like we are going to the Whole Foods market."
Was anyone else confused by team lamb? What's the difference between lamb and baby lamb...isn't lamb a baby?
Was Padma wearing the same outfit she wore on the first episode? Gasp!
Did Leah and Hosea screw Ariane?
Was Toby Young more subdued this week, or was it just Bravo's editing?

Source

Previous Next

Sign in to leave a comment

Log In with Facebook
We won't post anything without your permission.

Sign in with your account Don't have an account? Create one now!

nike dunk shoes

I am knew to this group but love the show. I thought Fabio's best comment - was with the pigs - he points out that even though the animals were born, and raised to be slaughtered, they deserved respect while they were alive. I thought that was a neat thing to hear. I thought the best part of the show was Toby telling Padma that he felt sorry for Ariene too - not because she couldn't butcher a lamb but because she couldn't cook - and Tom's reaction to it!

Lea and Hosea were beyond annoying tonight...I can't wait until they are both gone. Hopefully Restaurant Wars will send one of them packing next week.

About the Padme outfit... she was wearing boots instead of heels this time around. Same shirt/vest/jean combo though ;)

I liked Radhika so much in the beginning, but an hour to grill corn is pretty bad! Team Jamie all the way. Stephan loves to hear himself talk and he finds himself so funny with his cock comment, wasn't funny.

Ariane certainly was not the worst contestant and both her team mates should have been sent home for not working with her. No one has mentioned Radhika taking an hour to roast 10 ears of corn. Stephan is so arrogant I am sure he will be one of the finalists.

Ariane didn't deserve to go but she wouldn't have lasted that long either. I am glad that she gained her confidence by the end. Who knew Leah was such a brat. I'm just glad they didn't have to butcher the animals themselves, and that Jamie won again.

Oops, my mistake: Hosea was in the top 3 in the quickfire, not the bottom. Still don't think sharing his Spam made any difference.

Ugh.. SO over the Leah-Hosea thing. They really piss me off... I hope they BOTH go home really soon. And did no one hear Stefan say, "Team Cock. Cock. I love to say zat..." That cracked me up!

Has no one noticed that Leah can't cook?

i totally agree with marciag5 - "This is top chef, not top scallops" - BEST FABIO LINE EVER!

Arianne totally got screwed! It should have been Leah (she barely did anything except badly mess up the tying of the lamb, do the dessert which they hated, then throw Arianne under the bus) but it states at the end of the episode that the producers have a say in the elimination so of course they wanted to keep Leah & Hosea around to play up their flirtation/relationship...I'm not surprised but am dissapointed. In the beginning I kinda liked Leah but now I really hope she goes home next week! It looks like a good one, restaurant wars is always the best, can't wait! Side note: OMG it was GREAT to see Jamie make something other than scallops!!!!!!!!!!! Fabio made me LMAO in the last episode when he said "this isn't Top Scallop"!!! HAHAHA...he annoyed me at first but I like him more & more every week!

this definitely was not my favoriate episode of this season. I was mad Ariane was let go, I think it definitely should have been Leah, what exactly did she do on this challenge? Didn't seem like much. yeah, they've been leading up to this Leah/Hosea relationship drama for a while, all the comments early on how no one though it was going to lead to anything, etc., you knew something was going to come out of it. Well, hoping for a better episode next week...go Carla!

1. I was glad to see Hung; we're getting to the point where the cheftestants really need to start ramping up and I think he was a good inspiration for them. 2. Loved the quick pantry challenge; was I the only one taking notes? :-) Don't think Spam was a sponsor (never known Bravo to be, ah, *subtle* with their product placements); it was just one of the few proteins available. 3. Remember Hosea was in the bottom three for the quickfire; I don't think an extra can of Spam would've made a difference. 4. Probably not; as the field gets smaller and smaller, it's inevitable that the "couples" wind up together at some point. 5. It didn't seem like Ariane had any input, which is very telling about her qualification to be a Top Chef. If you're OK sitting back and let other people make the big decisions, you don't have what it takes. 6. I also loved Fabio's "unprotected sex" moment. His food is mediocre but I hope he sticks around for a good long time. 7. I think the point at which a lamb becomes a sheep is one year, so yes, there can be variations within the lamb category. 8. I hadn't noticed the outfit. I did like Fabio's "I heart Padma" shirt ... until I saw the banner announcing them for sale on the Bravo website. Oh well. 9. Ariane strikes me as being very sweet and willing to do anything for the team, and that was her downfall. I don't know if Leah and Hosea set out to screw her over, but they definitely had their own thing going. 10. I think it was the editing. I'm really enjoying Toby's one-liners and in-your-face critiques; he's a much-needed breath of fresh air for the judging panel. And it's cute that he and Tom kind of look alike :-)

I LOVE Fabio! His whole foods comment was my favorite for me too Yum! I was sad to see Ariane go. Leah and Hosea definitely screwed her over and I think that Leah should have gone home. I really don't like her and Hosea together. They talk about how they both have a boyfriend/girlfriend back home yet they're all over each other, especially Leah. Ugh. But Ariane did a good job. She was almost going home a few weeks ago so the fact that she came back up to the top for a little while was good.

This was my first time watching the show. WTH did these chefs do to the farm fresh food? It was really sad to see them overcomplicate fresh, wholesome ingredients. Also, the judges were critical about the excessive amounts of farm ingredients they took... hmmmmm? Isn't that how the chefs have been trained to treat their ingredients this whole season? Why were the judges getting all righteous for this one episode about the excessive amount of food taken and wasted? That was really irritating.

Ariane really is a whiner and she needs to go home, better this week then next.

1. It's nice to see when contestants past come back. I had forgotten how short he is, though: wow! 2. I doubt Spam was a sponsor this time around, as they weren't really throwing around the name quite so brazenly. I think it's just a foodstuff that screams "processed." 3. I'm not sure. I wish that Hosea, having been the beneficiary of a *LOT* of assistance just two episodes back, would not have hesitated to share. The spam really seemed to light up Stefan's dish, though. 4. How do you set up a knife pull? More than that, I think that previous scenes were edited to emphasize tensions that would come to a head in the teams. 5. I am truly flabbergasted at how long Ariane lasted, with so little originality or flair in her food. She showed much the same last night. 6. I think that moment was great! His little quotes always seem spontaneous, while Stefan's obnoxious "look at me" quotes are always accompanied by that proud grin a ten year-old has when he's just dying to tell you a joke he's been sitting on for hours. 7. My friend and I said exactly the same thing to each other! 8. I'm afraid I don't notice such things. 9. I think they could have done so a lot more. Leah said she did much of the tying (which the judges called her on), but when you start with an uneven piece of meat, there's not a lot you can do get it even when it's rolled. Additionally, they both told Ariane to do the meat because she's won by doing solidly (if uninspiringly) cooked proteins before; something they didn't mention at judges' table. 10. The "full-on unprotected sex" line is, as wednesday_adams pointed out, not what might be considered subdued. Nonetheless, recall that Toby realized midway through the last episode that the Top Chef team had brought him in for more than just zingers, so this may reflect a conscious shift in attitude. I loved the colors in this week's episode, though it sucks to be under so much snow right now while watching people cook gorgeous tomatoes and corn in the name of "seasonality." I have been gunning for Ariane to be booted off the show since week 2 and have been unwavering in my dislike in the face of back-to-back wins. Vindication! On a side note, that prison orange shirt she was wearing in her talking head pieces combined with her crazy hair made her look like she'd been committed somewhere. Also, "honoring the protein" sounds like a euphemism for something very NSFW. Likes: Stefan, Hosea, Jamie; Dislikes: Carla. I'm on the fence about Jeff - usually I find him a little over the top, but his food looked gorgeous this week.

1. I was totally glad to see Hung, and I thought the challenge was kind of hilarious the way they were all terrified of only having 15 minutes and he just stood there smirking at them. 2. I'm glad they did that challenge. Farm fresh is great, but a lot of people use items from the pantry, and their whining and complaining just made them seem a bit ridiculous to me. Suck it up. 3. Probably. I dunno, I'm glad he did. Hosea bugs the crap out of me. If I were his at home girlfriend I would have dumped his sorry ass already for cozying up with Leah on national TV. 4. Hehehe, Stefan talking about how cute Jaime is cracks me up every time. 5. A little. I mean, she did do the lamb, whatever you think of the outcome. 6. I love all moments of Fabio. Maybe he's not doing so hot anymore, but he's so funny and drama-free. 7. Yeah, I don't know the difference either. 8. Horror of horrors! Padma repeating an outfit, what's happening with the world?!?!?! ;) 9. Yes, sort of. Ariane was plenty capable of speaking up for herself, but they did sort of screw her during judging. Either way she was responsible for the lamb in the end, but, as much as she annoyed me in general I was sad to see her go last night. I thought Leah deserved it more. 10. He professed to want to have unprotected sex with a piece of pork, so maybe not "subdued," but less of an ass definitely.

now that i answered all those questions - i think that it really sucks that ariane went home. i feel like tried to do something and that others tend to get booted off for doing nothing, and she just got screwed.

1. Surprisingly, i was kind of happy to see him. he grew on me since the show ended 2. lol spam and Dr Pepper are really amping it up these days. bTW...what's turkey spam? 3. oh who knows. i feel like he's the cocky one that will win a lot of these challenges but not the last one . 4. it's possible that it was set up - i think that they want to build on the leah hosea relationship a bit based on the trailer for next week 5. i don't think that she really spoke up all that much. 6. :) that's up there for me. i just love some of the things that come out of his mouth 7. THANK YOU - that's what i thought too. 8. lol i didn't realize that! 9. yes - i think that they did - ariane really was one of the best chefs 10. i think that it was editing - although he did have a few GREAT comments

I completely agree that Leah screwed Ariane, but honestly, she needs to stand up for herself and demand help butchering the lamb. She takes on too much responsibilty when a real top chef would ask for help and delegate more, especially when she has other's (ie Hosea) on her team who can do something better. I think Leah is selfish and immature and I hope she goes home next week. Hosea was not much help to Ariane either, but I don't think he is as mean-spirited as Leah. I LOVED Fabio last night, his comment about going to the farm and not Whole Foods, was awesome. :ROTFL: Hosea could have easily said no to Stefan, but what good would that do? He seems to be a team player, more or less, and did not want to get on Stefan's bad side. I would not either. Hung is kinda annoying to me, but I loved the challenge. SPAM was totally the sponsor. gross!

Last night's episode was really interesting. I like the challenge and seeing that farm was amazing. I wish I lived close enough to go there myself! I have some pretty strong thoughts on all the remaining chefs: Stefan is an arrogant ass who makes decent food, but who is too full of himself to work on team. The last two team challenges his dishes were secondary to others on his team, but this is never mentioned. Fabio is also overhyped. The only reason he is still here is because week after week someone else does worse, just slightly. He oversimpliflies things. Maybe to make up for not knowing what else to do. Radhika should stop trying not to be pigeonholed as an Indian chef and just embrace. Her food seems to be the best when she cooks what she knows. Carla always does deserts! I don't really have a problem with her, but she needs to do something else, fast! Hosea is a talented chef, but he needs to back off Leah if he has a girlfriend. He also needs to be more consistent. Leah needs to back off Hosea and as mswender said, gain some confidence. She's won a couple of quickfires, but her food is consistently underwhelming. I think Jeff has potential except for the fact that he always cooks in a Tapas style. Little dishes that are supposed to make a plate. Tom called him on it last week. Three little dishes do NOT make one complete meal. Finally, Ariane got screwed. Leah and Hosea threw her under the bus to save their own asses. I don't think she would have gone all the way, but she didn't deserve to go home last night. Sorry for the long post, but I had to get it out!

I am not a big Hung fan, but I enjoyed seeing him in the quickfire. I thought the challenge was good because a lot of America cooks from the pantry, I have never really used spam that much so i don't know... Hosea probably shouldn't have given Stefan the spam, but I don't know how much it would have mattered since Stefan did have some spam of his own and making the sandwich won it for him. Why did he open the can with a knife? I think the teams were just luck of the draw for the producers. From the way the show started I though Leah or Hosea were going home. I knew the lamb group was in the bottom from the beginning. Poor Ariane. She really got screwed. I don't think she is the top chef, but I like her more that Leah and Hosea right now. They should have helped her, especially since Hosea has experience butchering. Anyone could see she was not doing a good job. I have never liked Leah, can someone give her some self confidence so she is the girl who needs the boy to feel good about herself, yuck. Fabio is adorable, more and more as the show goes on. Lamb can be baby and full grown, think about a baby lamb chop and a Lamb chop. did not notice her outfit, but lets come back into reality and real people were their clothes more than once, it is ok! Leah and Hosea totally screwed Ariane and I really wanted Leah or Hosea to go home, but now we have scandal for next week and maybe even Leah packing her knives!!! I still really like Toby Young and he had some funny comments, a mixture of his own editing and Bravo.

I don't know if wanting to have "full-on, unprotected sex" with the food is exactly subdued, but I love his style! :) I was pissed Ariane got sent home, I'm sick of seeing sleazy Leah and philandering Hosea all over each other.

Sign in to leave a comment Log In with Facebook We won't post anything without your permission. Sign in with your account Don't have an account? Create one now!

Sign in to leave a comment

Log In with Facebook
We won't post anything without your permission.

Sign in with your account Don't have an account? Create one now!