Top Chef - Season 3

As always, I'm blogging as I go. Spoilers everywhere, so beware!

Quickfire -
Hung should have picked up the shellfish from the floor, but is that really that bad? And seriously, since when did Top Chef turn into Fear Factor? Getting their own shellfish? Having to open them? It's like all this super gross stuff that in theory
Shellfish and white wine can be done by a monkey, according to Hung. If that's true, can I get a pet monkey who will cook that for me? If you read my previous post about animals in Evan Almighty, you'll remember my adoration for personified animals. So, Hung, if you read this, I'll pay you real big bucks for the cooking monkey, especially if that monkey is snuggle and can talk.
The guest judge, , seemed very positive. "its an acquired taste" - is that a euphemism for "how are you still on this show?"

Healthy elimination challenge -
This is quite an homage to the previous seasons challenge to do a low calorie meal for the kids camp. I really really like these challenges because it kind of refocuses them away from just cooking with favorite ingredients and heavy sauces and butter. Plus, I would love to go to restaurants and order healthy food that isn't just green salad. However, are there no guidelines for "low cholesterol?"

Did NONE of these contestants watch previous seasons to study up? Instant mashed potatoes? Hello, remember in season 1 during the Wedding challenge when the cooks got flack for using cake mix? And that was the cake when none were pastry chefs, etc. AND Dale is going to use precooked chicken? Wow, wow, wow.

Too bad Lia failed to execute, I liked the general idea of her way to update frank and beans.
I love the facial expressions of the judges. Its so obvious they hate a bunch of these dishes. Howie's dish looked the most delicious - made my stomach growl for sure.

Top two AGAIN? This shouldn't really bug me, but it really bugs the beegebus out of me. And Howie clearly is the better chef of him and Dale since Dale USED A MIX! So glad that Howie won and he finally got a real prize - a trip to work with a chef, etc, as oppose to just a big pile of autographed books.

Bottom five? I know they were unhappy, but c'mon. I think it was kind of obnoxious to bring in Brian just to lecture him about using lobsters. I don't think Tom was rude or mean, but still. Lia apparently didn't do much, Sara's food was apparently awful, CJ's meal was apparently a little blah, and Micah's food was bad - plus she was so haughty and "above" meatloaf. Clearly CJ and Lia aren't going home - they're food wasn't bad. I'm glad Micah went home since her food was the least favorite of the people - and she was totally obnoxious.

Okay so Hung and Marcel are friends. Hung and Marcel are given a hard time by the other cooks, unfairly so. I kind of wonder if at least part of it is the editing. Do we have to have a villain every time? Stephen, Marcel, Hung - all talented, arrogant, young cooks who make enemies quickly. All three have a huge explosion early on with someone who seems to be a strong personality. Stephen, however, apologized and redeemed himself at the reunion. Since there was no reunion for season 2, I guess those folks never had a chance. I guess my point here is - are all overly confident but yet talented cooks total jerks? Or does Bravo just find the real gems? And are they really as bad as they are edited to look like? Not exactly ground breaking questions, but seems like the pressing question for loyal TC fans.