Sweet and Sour in Boston

Another rundown of Top Chef:

1. Two of the best challenges ever! Holy crap did Top Chef surprise the hell out of me. First, boning and filleting fish while Eric Ripert judges? AWESOME!!! Then, they get to eat at the NYC Fish Mecca, Le Bernardin, with the rest of the judges. How they didn’t realize that a 6-course meal (which just seems like a strange number of courses) correlated to their elimination challenge boggles my mind. The minute it was revealed to be 6 courses, I would have started breaking down all the dishes because I’d have figured out that the challenge would have something to do with these dishes.

2. Jamie…I just don’t get the statement of how the food at Le Bernardin was uninspiring and boring. I dunno, I probably and too far head over heals with Eric Ripert, and maybe if I went to any of his restaurants the food wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but from what I could see from my TV, the food was incredible! Hosea said it best, the food looked simple, but you knew they weren’t easy to make.

3. They kicked Jeff off one week too soon. I just have the feeling he would have dominated this challenge. Breaking down what went into a dish…I think with his knowledge, he could have done very well. It’s a shame we couldn’t see it.

4. I, like so many out there in the inter-webs, believe that Leah could kill Padma and wear her skin like a suit and still not be kicked off. If I were Hosea, I’d be curious who else Leah cheated on her man with to get to stay on this show. It’s definitely not because of her cooking chops.

5. Hosea also needs to shut it down with the whole “Euro” trash talking. Would people be more offended if instead of Stefan and Fabio he disliked, but maybe “Team Rainbow”? If he went off and said “I’m so sick of those Team Rainbow people, I just want to shut them up.” I can’t see that as being any more different.

6. Speaking of the “Euros” they are the only reason to watch this show. And they both did very, very well. Good for Fabio, since I thought he was getting the loser edit immediately.

7. Eric Ripert is easily the greatest guest judge on any show period. He’s genuinely nice, gives good feedback, and has unlimited charm. I was so happy to hear that he’s getting his own show on PBS soon called Avec Eric. He is the Top Chef, and his looks at Toby while Toby went off on his crappy analogies were priceless.

8. Carla (not calling her Crazy Eyes today because she earned it) was incredible. It was awesome seeing her use her culinary knowledge to fully understand Ripert’s dish. Yes it was called a béarnaise sauce, but it really wasn’t a béarnaise sauce. The fact that Carla could figure that out was just mind-blowingly awesome. It is so much better to see Carla cook with her brain than her cooking with love.

9. Jamie had the worst dish. Inedible said Ripert’s blog. The show made it seem like it was close between Leah and Jamie, but it was Jamie all the way. She started to annoy me as the show got on, but Leah really, really has to go. If she makes the top four, I’m going to have to quit watching.

10. Again, it’s the guest judges that draw me back: Wylie and Pepin this week.