Top Chef Power Rankings

Top Chef - S8E11 Postmortem

Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh.

Let me get back to this.

"Anyway, you have to say this for [Richard]: he always seems to be making somebody's dish great, even if it isn't always his."

Even when it isn't on purpose!

Seems like the Dale gut punch was about the only thing that could take the focus off Mike. You guys know I tend to shy away from piling on unlikeable characters, but... what the hell, let him have it. Low and shameless. Brutal combination. Guess we have our villain for the finals. We'll talk about it more next week. Though I disagree with the suggestion that because this incident was featured, that means they're setting Mike up as the villain and he'll be in the finale. There's no way that little controversy wasn't getting full exposure no matter what happens in the final three episodes.

Dale. Man. It hurts on two levels. First, because I've always liked Dale, even when he wasn't especially likable. But he really seemed to be making a genuine effort to be a better person, he had the fire to win, and he was really killing it. The guy had won more than a third of the challenges all season leading into this episode (contrast with Angelo who, while perhaps equally talented, had won two). That's gut punch number one. Then I get to thinking about how two weeks back, I thought to myself that a finale featuring any three-way combination of Dale, Richard, Angelo, Carla and Antonia would make me happy. And it was looking like we'd probably get that. And now the only way that happens is if Tiffany and Isabella go 1-2 the next two episodes. Fingers crossed.

More next week. Gonna go sulk now. Danielle's link about sums it up for me.

Discuss!

P.S. -- So for the stats, who the hell do I give the quickfire win to? Isabella? Blais? Antonia? I feel like I should make a poll out of this.

Top Chef - S8E10 Power Rankings

Let my dedication to the Power Rankings never be questioned!

This week's edition comes to you from the PICU, where everybody's going to be fine, thanks for your concern. But there are long, sleepless nights where there isn't much to do and staring at a computer screen is better than staring at a medical monitor. Which is kind of conducive to getting Power Rankings done, actually.

The angst level is rising, and given the last three episodes, I'm not entirely unsympathetic. Some feel there hasn't been a "real" challenge since Restaurant Wars, four episodes ago. Others still feel that this season has been particularly bad for challenges. Now, I don't necessarily share either of those sentiments. I don't see what isn't "real" about cooking Italian or upscale/reimagined comfort food (I'll bite my tongue when it comes to the Target commerc-- er... episode), but I can see how it feels like we're a little overdue for a fine dining challenge, or at least something upscale. Still, since we tend to forget just how bad some past season challenges have been, I thought it might be a good time to revisit some of the gems from seasons past:

SEASON ONE

• Ep. 2 - Prepare an erotic-themed dessert for a party at a BDSM shop.
• Ep. 3 - Make monkfish for kids.
• Ep. 4 - Make a microwave reheatable entree for a ladies' luncheon.
• Ep. 6 - Surprise! Knife draw... now you have to finish that other chef's recipe.
• Ep. 8 - Cater a wedding for 100 guest in 16 hours.

SEASON TWO

• Ep. 3 - Update a childhood classic in a firehouse kitchen for TGI Friday's.
• Ep. 4 - Make a sub-500 calorie meal for diabetic kids.
• Ep. 7 - Make breakfast for athletes. After you shop, surprise! It's using fire pits on the beach.

SEASON THREE

• Ep. 1 - Create a surf and turf using exotic proteins.
• Ep. 3 - Make classic comfort food dishes with low cholesterol.
• Ep. 5 - Cater lunch for a Latin daytime drama... surprise! You have half the prep time you planned for.
• Ep. 6 - Make a Bertolli frozen entree.
• Ep. 11 - Make airplane food. No, really.

SEASON FOUR

• Ep. 2 - Draw an animal. Make hors d'oeuvres based on that animal's diet.
• Ep. 3 - Cater a Chicago neighborhood block party. Oh, yeah, and go door to door for your ingredients.
• Ep. 7 - Make a dish based on random combinations of color, emotion and ingredient suggestions from an improv comedy audience.
• Ep. 8 - Feed a family of four on $10.
• Ep. 9 - Cater a wedding in 16 hours. 250 guests this time!
• Ep. 10 - Make a healthy box lunch for Chicago cops.

SEASON FIVE

• Ep. 3 - Cook Thanksgiving dinner for the Foo Fighters outdoors using microwaves and toaster ovens.
• Ep. 4 - Make a dish for a two and a half minute television demonstration.
• Ep. 10 - Top Chef Bowl! Cook regional American cuisine head-to-head against ex-contestants.

SEASON SIX

• Ep. 2 - Make bachelor and bachelorette party appetizers to pair with shooters.
• Ep. 3 - Feed 300 people at an air force base using whatever they have in their kitchen.
• Ep. 5 - Make haute cuisine on a fire pit after camping in a tent overnight.
• Ep. 10 - Cook vegetarian for Natalie Portman and friends.

SEASON SEVEN

• Ep. 2 - Make a low-budget healthy lunch for kids.
• Ep. 4 - Prepare breakfast, then lunch, then dinner for room service, tournament-style.
• Ep. 8 - Make hors d'oeuvres in the style of the country you draw. Hope you draw a good one.
• Ep. 10 - Disguise your dish as another dish.
• Ep. 11 - Operate a baseball stadium concession stand.
• Ep. 12 - Make space food. No, really.

Note that these are all eliminations. No quickfires. And this doesn't even include the BBQ challenges, endless catering challenges, other comfort food challenges, other ethnic food challenges, etc. Point being, I think this notion that this season is somehow exceptional in its elimination challenge composition is a false one. We haven't had a fine dining challenge for a few episodes, it’s true, but that happens every season. What we're getting is, I think, pretty much par for the course.

ADDENDUM : I think Nikki L nails it below:

"So, in summary, maybe it's not the show dropping the ball as much as the chefs? I feel like the level of creativity with the dishes just doesn't match up to what we've seen people do in past crazy challenge, including some contestants that are still on right now."

Though I disagree with the notion that they're "dropping the ball," I think these chefs have had AMPLE opportunity to make the kind of flashier, creative stuff that looks great on TV. That they haven't been cooking that kind of food as much isn't the fault of the challenges. And I wonder if it has as much to do with current restaurant trends as anything else.

If *only* par for the course always involved Muppets. The consipracy-minded among us will fear that the elves are sneakily indoctrinating an entire generation of kids to be Top Chef fans. I'm pretty much okay with that. Especially when it's this entertaining. And a cookie challenge is great for a quickfire. Especially when judged by Cookie Monster (though I wonder who did the actual judging... the Muppeteers? Padma?).

And here's what I'll say about the Target challenge. There are always a few sponsored challenges. It's been seven and a half seasons, and it's time to make peace with that or move on. So with that as a given, they were given a Targetful of equipment and a reasonably well-stocked grocery store and no other restrictions. They weren't asked to make frozen food, they weren't forced to use a specific (often substandard) ingredient, and they weren't forced to go hawking it on the street or a beach. If this is season eight's dumb, gimmicky elimination challenge, I think we got off relatively easy.

I'm not quite working with all of my usual info and notes (and the recipe finder is down, not that it's been a big help this season anyway), but here's what I've got. It's really tight at the top. In honor of Angelo, little goofs mean big moves.

The power rankings are not purely a prediction of who is most likely to win, or an assessment of last episode's dishes, or a reflection of the contestants' historical performance, but rather a nebulous amalgam of all three, combined with a little bit of gut feeling, to provide a relative measure of current awesomeness.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Dale Quickfires 4 5 2 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 3 6 2 One bad dish, followed by one dumb oops, then *BAM*... double win, right back on top. I have to defend Dale a little bit on two fronts. First, for those who were wondering, the cookie was, in fact, baked. And if the only remaining criticism is that it resembles David Chang's compost cookie (slightly, in that they both include crushed salty snacks), whether or not it was the inspiration for Dale's, I feel pretty comfortable working under the assumption that David Chang didn't pioneer the addition of salty snacks to sweet cookies. As for the grilled cheese, yeah, I'd like to see the chefs winning challenges for something a little more exciting than grilled cheese. But it isn't as though Richard and Antonia were preparing haute cuisine. And as I've said before, anybody who takes a shot at canned tomatoes doesn't know tomatoes. Or at least has never had good ones. In any case, the knock on Dale at this point is that he's been a little inconsistent. But I don't think there's any question he can bring it home if he stays on, he's dominating the scoreboard, and he's coming off a double win. I'm not sure I see the system under which that isn't number one.

2 Richard Quickfires 3 5 1 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 2 5 1 Richard seems to be gaining popularity as the overrated one, and this isn't an easy call, but I don't know that "overrated" is fair unless you're taking the position that he's a clear favorite... which I guess a lot of people are, so perhaps it's fair after all. He seemed to do a nicer job with the elimination challenge this week than most, even if it's hard to get a sense of it since the recipe isn't even internally consistent. The title and picture say "tenderloin" and the recipe says "ribs." Huh? Anyway, you have to say this for him: he always seems to be making somebody's dish great, even if it isn't always his. But I think it's still premature to make a case for Antonia over Richard, and with Carla needing a ding for a stumble, I think number two is right where Richard belongs this week.

3 Antonia Quickfires 1 3 2 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 1 5 4 I said last week that I'd really like to put Antonia higher, and Angelo and Carla just made it easy. But the truth is that this has been a long time coming. Though I took a con position in relation to Dale in last week's comments (a position I stand by), I didn't do it gladly. I said it then, and I'll say it now, she's really outperforming the numbers. And she's now been on top of five consecutive challenges, all of them solo. If she'd managed just one win in the last two episodes, I'd probably even move her up to number two. But I want to give that one more week and see what happens. Though made-to-order eggs for 100 is a ballsy move, I'm perhaps not quite as impressed that she pulled it off as others. One, they're over easy. Two, lest we forget the Lou Mitchell's challenge from Season 4, Antonia's done a lot of eggs to order. And three, they're on a retail electric griddle, which may actually be the ideal cooking implement for over easy eggs. It won't get too hot, it's really easy to maintain temperature, and it's probably nonstick. If you tell me my life depends on cooking 100 perfect over easy eggs and let me choose between a restaurant range and an electric griddle from Target, I pick the electric griddle from Target. But I mention this not to detract, but merely to elucidate. However it was prepared, it was a very smart and fun dish given the situation. Bacon vinaigrette, parmesan cream, a little veg... well done.

4 Carla Quickfires 0 2 3 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 3 6 2 Carla, I'm sticking up for you! Throw me a bone, here! Eek... I'm sure I'm far from the only one who was yelling, "Forget about the f**king linens and go cook your food!" at my TV. In her defense, it sounds as though there was some sort of presentation angle that was later dropped, either in judging or in editing. But even so, food first, food first! You aren't going to be sent home for lack of a tablescape! And please shoot me in the head with a hollow point if I ever use that "word" for anything other than mocking Sandra Lee again! I love Carla, but she reinforced the "why caterers don't win Top Chef" meme a little too strongly this week, and I have to ding her.

5 Mike Quickfires 1 3 3 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 2 2 Well, you have to admit, Mike's run to the middle strategy has served him pretty well through two seasons. It's given him the chance to sneak into the finals yet again, which he didn't miss by much in his own season. I'm not sure what there is to say about Mike at this point that hasn't been said. He's a skilled chef, but he hasn't really given us any reason to believe that he can win. The only question at this point is whether he goes down in the next two episodes, or manages to sneak into the finals and keep somebody out who most of us would rather see there. None of which is a knock on him. But barring some very good luck in the next couple of weeks, he's probably gone about as far as he can go.

6 Tiffany Quickfires 0 0 5 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 3 5 Then there's Tiffany, who's Exhibit A for why Mike might very well make the finale. It doesn't seem possible that she might survive two more episodes, does it? One thing I hope is that the Tiffany backlash doesn't start. Unless you want to hold the fact that she hasn't intentionally tanked a dish against her (which would be, you know, stupid), it isn't her fault that she's survived longer than some others we’d rather see cooking at this point. Many interpretations have been given to the look on her face after Angelo's elimination. Mine is that she can't believe she's still around while more deserving people are leaving. And before making the comparison, let's please remember that that's the difference between her and Lisa Fernandez. Humility.

7 Angelo Quickfires 0 1 5 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 2 6 2 And so we come to Angelo, whose ouster is really, really unfortunate. I think most of us wanted to see him in the finals, and even those who didn't, I think, would acknowledge that he deserved to be there. But let's not confuse unfortunate with unfair. And let's not pretend there's inconsistency in judging when it comes to salt. Salt level is not a ternary state. It isn't "not enough," "perfect," or "too much." We're talking about degrees here, and the judges have been quite clear. Dale's sandwich was really delicious, just too salty to enjoy properly. Angelo's soup was completely inedible (and plain old baked potato soup, to boot). Also, let's examine the other side of the coin. While Angelo was definitely one of the stronger competitors, he wasn't the unstoppable force of Top Chef cookery that many of his eulogies make him out to be. If not for a really interesting pulled pork, we wouldn't be talking about how this is one of the most notable early exits in Top Chef history, but about how he started well but slowly faded over the course of the season. And that fade would be entirely understandable. I think we've noted it before, but the guy's been doing Top Chef for almost four months straight now (or was, at the time the episode was filmed). He's said elsewhere that he only had about two and a half weeks off between the season seven finale and the start of season eight. And he was coming off significant illness. That's really, really rough and I think you have to commend the guy for hanging in as well as he did. As weird as he was -- and again, I use that word with the utmost affection -- he was a great addition to the show, both from a culinary and personality standpoint. Happy trails, Angelo. Looking forward to seeing what you do in the future.

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE ELEVEN SPOILERS AHEAD

It's been many, many years since I gave up on FoodTV (Molto Mario and Iron Chef excepted), so I've actually never watched Paula Deen. But I know the reputation. And I'm totally okay with a fried food challenge judged by Paula Deen. No matter how appropriate or inappropriate it may be, Richard is going to take a beating from everybody for busting out the LN again. And I love Mike's fried "oysters" idea, even if it seems like it might not be his idea.

The elimination brings back previous chefs to help. I'm sure this was meant to make sure that some favorite personalities had a chance to return for a bit, but unfortunately it just increases the chances that the finals will be non-competitive. We'll see. It's also a catering challenge, though it remains to be seen whether we're talking Pigs and Pinot catering or Chicago block party catering.

Two eliminations to the finals.

Discuss!

Top Chef - S8E10 Postmortem

If you thought this one hurt, gird your loins. What do you think the odds are that Mike and Tiffany lose the next two episodes?

Ugh... it really is a bummer. But I'm glad to see the judges sticking to their guns when it comes to judging the challenge at hand rather than making the easy elimination based on history. I'm sure it will be promptly forgotten by the conspiracy theorists.

Bummer of a follow-up to one of the most enjoyable quickfires ever. Muppets rule.

Discuss!

Top Chef - S8E9 Power Rankings

I must say, one of the things I'm enjoying about this season is that if an episode is a little lackluster from a food standpoint, at least it's highly entertaining. At least that seems to be the case. Of course the food is what it's about here (mostly), and while this wasn't the wildest episode on that count, it wasn't without its charms.

A fun and straightforward quickfire, I thought, that gave the chefs plenty of room to stretch their wings if they were so inclined. In that sense, I guess I'm a little more disappointed with what they came up with than I am with the challenge itself.

Ditto the elimination, though I suspect they were warned not to stray *too* far from the original dish. Though I reject the notion that these challenges aren't showing us much about our chefs. I think there was plenty of room to maneuver on this one. Enough, anyway.

See, this is what happens when I wait until so late to do the rankings. When we have close to 250 comments on the episode, it feels like we've kind of already covered it all. Just wait. Two more seasons and I won't have to write a thing. I'll just post a title and the rankings will magically write themselves via the collective wisdom of Skillet Doux readers. Sweet.

Tough week to call. Really, really tough. Personally, I feel like five of the seven remaining chefs are capable of walking away with it. And nobody wants to run out in front and stay there. I'm already second guessing myself and I haven't even started yet.

The power rankings are not purely a prediction of who is most likely to win, or an assessment of last episode's dishes, or a reflection of the contestants' historical performance, but rather a nebulous amalgam of all three, combined with a little bit of gut feeling, to provide a relative measure of current awesomeness.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Richard Quickfires 3 5 0 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 2 4 1 I don't feel especially good about this. I don't feel especially good about putting anybody in the top spot this week, and not because -- like some seasons past -- nobody deserves it. Rather, a bunch of people have looked quite strong, and all recently. I'm just finding it hard to say "this is the one." So I'm punting. And I feel justified in doing so for at least one week because when you look at all of the things that could be considered to distinguish between a crowd of very strong contestants, the one thing that jumps out is bottom appearances. There's a chasm between Richard and the rest of the crowd. When the others screw up, they screw up. When Richard screws up (with the exception of the team fish effort), he lands squarely in the middle, often with praise. Which is exactly what happened this week. Though it wasn't a universally-held opinion, Gail apparently thought Richard's ramen was great. And in the quickfire, he had a brilliantly creative idea that didn't quite land him in the top or bottom. And this is pretty much what constitutes a bad week. I said a few weeks ago that consistency might be especially important this season, and more than anybody else, Richard has it. But if he hangs in the middle again, there are three or four people who could shoot right by him with strong performances.

2 Carla Quickfires 0 2 3 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 3 6 1 One of those people is Carla, who's now the sole owner of the most elimination wins. The knock on Carla, for those who put her lower, seems to be that she's picking up wins in places that aren't as indicative of how she'd perform in the finale. And that may very well be the case. But to that, I say two things. First, as detailed above, the Power Rankings aren't purely predictive. That's a part of it, to be sure, but this is about current awesomeness. And Carla was really awesome. See: Earlier notes about how chefs routinely fail to execute challenges that they should rock. See: Understanding and nailing the challenge at hand. See: Overcoming a time crunch, when a lack of speed is often seen as one of her biggest weaknesses. See: Tom stuffing his face. Point being, to simply say that she got lucky is a big honking cop out. Second, and perhaps most importantly, I'm not so sure the conventional wisdom about what the judges expect from a Top Chef finalist still holds. A few seasons ago, I would have said Carla has no chance (come to think of it, I believe I did say that... and then she kept winning). I had my old adage about the formula for Top Chef success being technical mastery + creativity + a personal, definable style. And I still believe that. And though it was always sort of a given that there had to be some degree of wow factor in there, how doesn't Carla hit that profile? I don't think anybody has questioned her technical mastery since the Le Bernardin episode of season five. She makes her fair share of mistakes, but she's proven time and again that she can execute at a very, very high level. There's no question she rocks a very personal, definable style. In fact, it's frequently wielded as a cudgel against her. Creativity is the only part of the equation where there seems to be debate, and I'm in the camp that believes if your food is awesome, those creative choices need not be showy. And I think the judges have been taking that approach in their comments and judging lately. Does her food just not FEEL like Top Chef winning food to some? Is that really what we're hanging our hat on when we find ourselves hesitant to give her wins the same weight as some others? If anything, I'm starting to think that Top Chef is perfectly primed for a winner like Carla right now. The restaurant industry is certainly trending towards comforting, less showy food. Simplicity is something that Tom preaches constantly, and it's the way he usually works. Recent seasons have brought contestants that were wildly creative and incredibly successful with it, so it isn't as though anybody is going to be performing at a level we've never seen on the show before. So why not give the title to somebody who rocks warm, comforting, soulful flavors with unusual precision and just enough smart creative touches to make the dish hers? A few seasons ago, choke or no choke, I don't think the judges were ready to give the title to a chef like Carla. Now, I have a hunch they'd love to... if she can keep it up.

3 Angelo Quickfires 0 1 4 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 2 6 1 And Tom's reaction to Angelo's pulled pork is a perfect example of how he could easily take the title if he makes the finale. This is a recipe I'm really annoyed is missing. I'd love to see it. Of course, Angelo nailed a personal pet peeve of making really saucy pulled pork, but if you're going to drown pulled pork in sauce, you might as well do it with a sauce that's surprisingly creative and delicious. There's plenty of history behind working coffee into BBQ, and it's been suggested elsewhere (and correctly) that dill works its way into Vietnamese in all kinds of surprising (to us) ways, so you can see where it came from in his brain, but that doesn't make it any less impressive from a creative standpoint. I said Angelo needed a good week to get some momentum going again and hold onto his spot, and he delivered.

4 Dale Quickfires 3 4 2 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 2 5 2 Dale is lower than I'd like him to be, but I just don't have room any higher this week. The argument for keeping him high in the rankings -- and I'd like to emphasize it because I think it's a good one -- is that he's racked up a ton of wins, and based on the blog comments, one gets the impression that he was an "oops, there was salt on the pretzel roll" away from a win and a top appearance this week. The argument for dropping him like a stone is that he's been on the chopping block two weeks running. And while I think that doesn't lend a true sense of how he's been performing, it's tough not to ding somebody for it regardless of the circumstances. Without the broad base of strong competition, he might've hung on near the top. But the hits are just too evenly distributed this season. I wouldn't hesitate to sling him right back to the top spot with a big win or two and a little help from those above him.

5 Antonia Quickfires 1 2 2 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 1 4 4 Two top appearances and she drops a spot. It's crazy, I know, and I'd like to put her higher, but who drops down beneath her? It's the nature of the season that I feel like all of the top five deserve to be top three. I'll say it again, I feel like Antonia has found what I felt she was lacking her last time around. Her fondue was smart and creative. I'm bothered that she needed help with the tongue (especially since she'd just finished talking about how her mother was all about Jewish deli), and I really want to see that recipe, but it sounds like she did a really nice job with the dish. She doesn't have a lot of wins, and she's spent a lot of time on the bottom, but I think she's been a stronger competitor than the numbers suggest.

6 Mike Quickfires 1 3 3 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 2 2 And here we get to the two who, though talented chefs, I just don't see as having a shot at winning. Making the finals? Absolutely. But I think it would take an amazing confluence of events for Mike to bring home the title. His fondue seemed like a perfectly nice idea, which leads me to believe that the balance was probably off. And I really don't even have enough information to be speculating like that. Gail praised his sausage and peppers in her blog, which says to me that they most certainly weren't Fenway sausages, because the sausages I had at Fenway sucked. Sorry, Boston. (Your concessions still beat Wrigley. Faint praise.)

7 Tiffany Quickfires 0 0 5 Last Week: 8 Eliminations 0 3 4 Nothing to see here, Tiffany's still the dead woman walking. What's really astounding is that Tiffany has been on the bottom of more than half of the challenges, and nearly half of the eliminations, and has somehow managed to hang around. Even dearly departed Fabio can't boast that kind of record. I don't think she's a bad chef, I just think she's outclassed here, and probably running on fumes. One tangent is that Tiffany's chicken and dumplings has given rise to the same mini-controversy as Tre's risotto. "Who cares if it wasn't 'proper'... did it taste good?" The judges are being called out in some corners for inconsistency. And I agree, they're not consistent. But that's because the challenges aren't consistent. Too traditional for one challenge could be too wild for another, and I don't think it's fair to use their words in one context against them in another context. I say there's no there there. It seems clear that they didn't want the chefs to stray too far from the original dish. Though we don't know for sure, I strongly suspect that this was made clear to the chefs. Even Tiffany seemed to acknowledge that she might get herself in trouble by pushing it too far. Move along. Nothing to see here.

8 Fabio Quickfires 0 1 4 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 5 4 It's been suggested that Fabio's Italian focus isn't as big a liability as his cultural disconnect with the judges (Nom? Others?), and I think that's quite astute. I also wonder if it's partly why Elia, though she went far in season two, never quite seemed to connect with the judges. In any case, this is exactly the kind of challenge that could easily trip Fabio. Comfort food is all about expectations, traditions and cultural norms. If you want to elevate a burger, you have to really be in touch with the cultural context to know which aspects you can play with and which aspects are sacrosanct. Fabio didn't understand the dire importance of the texture and juiciness of the patty because that simply isn't a part of his culinary lexicon. So this really was a minefield for him, and it's one where I wonder if the judges might not have been a little understanding... until he blew the cheese sauce. I find Fabio endlessly entertaining. I'm sad to see him go. But it was time.

Three eliminations until the finals? Are they shaking things up this season? Either way, I don't think I've ever been as torn in two directions about whether or not I'm looking forward to next week.

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE TEN SPOILERS AHEAD

Cookies for cookie monster. Awesome beyond words.

Massive time crunch catering challenge at a Target. Rage building.

Three people doing the same thing usually means one of them goes home. And only one of them wouldn't suck.

It's been a season relatively free of the total BS challenges like this. Time to take our medicine.

Discuss!

Top Chef - S8E9 Postmortem

Meanwhile, over at Television Blend, heads are exploding.

It's like the icing on the cake of watching a Carla win, knowing that they're going to be forced to come up with even more contorted logic to justify keeping her at or near the bottom. Meanwhile, I need to decide how big the bump will be. The good news is that if anybody feels it isn't enough, I can always just point to the other power rankings out there. They're making me look good.

I know you wouldn't know it from the way I write about him half the time, but I'm so sad to see Fabio go. Again. The dude's way too much fun to watch.

So apparently we're in the midseason comfort food lull, which is fine. The late episodes need to be hardcore, so I'm okay with the elves getting it out of their systems now. Though the preview makes me wonder if we won't be fondly remembering this episode for its sophisticated challenge. I'll have to make sure there aren't any heavy objects within arm's reach next week. I love my TV.

Much to digest this weekend. Some annoyances food-wise, but a very, very entertaining episode.

Discuss!

Top Chef - S8E8 Power Rankings

Hey, all!

With huge apologies, illness (mine and others) and work are conspiring to keep me away from the rankings this week. But as we did for episode three, rather than totally bail on you, let's go with the short form.

While the QF annoyed me greatly at first, my annoyance has waned since last Wednesday. Though it initially struck me as just shy of sacriligeous, I've decided I'm okay with the dishes not being tasted. But IF we're going to go that route, I say narrow the focus and state that since we can't taste, the dishes must be so beautifully presented that we can imagine just what they taste like. In short, screw abstract art on a plate, make me feel like my eyes have tastebuds. THAT would have been a good presentation challenge. And incidentally, the guy could be a genius -- fashion isn't my thing -- but I think I've now spent all of the time I care to spend with Isaac Mizrahi.

I'm especially annoyed by having to go short form since this was the week to discuss Italian food. To sum up:

• Love for dry pasta, woo!
• Lack of cold antipasti, boo!
• Simple stuff winning the day, huzzah!
• Stiff, garnished risotto, bleagh!

Consider this an attempt to make up for my usual wordly abundance with bad rhymes.

The power rankings are not purely a prediction of who is most likely to win, or an assessment of last episode's dishes, or a reflection of the contestants' historical performance, but rather a nebulous amalgam of all three, combined with a little bit of gut feeling, to provide a relative measure of current awesomeness.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Richard Quickfires 3 5 0 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 2 4 1 This wasn't Richard's strongest week, and he oddly continues his schnitzelriffic streak, but he still pulled down a win, his elimination dish seemed solid, and the previous occupant of the top position faceplanted. Which makes this one kind of easy. Good call going black with Mizrahi, BTW.

2 Dale Quickfires 2 3 2 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 2 5 1 See faceplant: above. That was brutal. If, as Tom postulated, he tossed his pasta ingredients together rather than cooking them together, that is, indeed, a mortal sin before the pasta gods. But coming off a hot streak like Dale was, even a week like that doesn't cause you to fall too far. Everybody screws up sometimes. As long as it isn't a trend, he'll remain near the top.

3 Angelo Quickfires 0 0 4 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 2 5 1 Only just barely. When you watch a few episodes that lead you to believe Angelo is a normal human being, it's comforting to be reminded that he's insane. And I say that fondly. Not sure the crocadile (sic) look will be trending in restaurants nationwide this year, but at least he pulled off a solid, if imperfect, elimination dish. Biggest problem is how long it's been since he made noise. He's on the verge of dropping a couple of spots due to inactivity.

4 Antonia Quickfires 1 1 2 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 1 3 4 Yes, her QF would have been more at home in a grammar school art class, and yes, she made steamed mussels, but I have to give her a little bump for playing smart and getting her first win. During her first run, I was always first in line to criticize her dishes for being too simple and straightforward. But you have to allow for the challenge's vibe, and I think she captured it.

5 Carla Quickfires 0 2 3 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 2 5 1 Carla didn't do a thing wrong this week, in fact she got top mention twice. It's just that some of the earlier momentum is slowing. I'm a little annoyed by the certainty with which some (not here, I don't think) have expressed that her top mention was due solely to Bracco. I certainly can't discount it, but it's awfully speculative. The truly negative comments were from a non-judge, Bracco raved, and Bourdain simply seemed unenthused. That still leaves two judges from whom we heard nothing. Let's not assume this was a favor to the Hollywood royalty in attendance while half the jury is out, please. Incidentally, beautiful plate in the QF. Probably would have been my choice.

6 Mike Quickfires 1 3 2 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 0 2 2 What Mike did was an oops. And I usually don't punish oopses too harshly unless they're habitual. Mike is not a habitual oopser. Quite the contrary, he's usually pretty solid, and to me it seems most likely that his downfall, like last time, will be that at some point he'll simply be less impressive than the other remaining contestants. That said, this is two weak elimination dishes in a row, and Fabio nearly leapfrogged him.

7 Fabio Quickfires 0 1 3 Last Week: 8 Eliminations 0 5 3 He probably should have leapfrogged Mike... I just couldn't quite pull the trigger on it. As I've said, even if it's a challenge you should crush, you still have to crush it. He only just missed. And Fabio's been sort of quietly making a good showing for himself. But I still don't believe this little warm streak has legs. (For how many episodes have I been saying that now?) Plus, anybody who knocks the simplicity of Antonia's mussels but doesn't apply the same scorn to Fabio's chicken is, I think, applying that standard rather selectively.

8 Tiffany Quickfires 0 0 4 Last Week: 9 Eliminations 0 3 3 Sounds like her elimination dish was pretty good. Not really Italian or Italian-American as much as it was inspired by Italian ingredients and flavors. Which is completely fine (even if I still wish somebody had done a cold antipasto). Not good enough to get out of the basement, though. She still seems like the weak link to me.

9 Tre Quickfires 2 3 1 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 3 4 Did I mention that I'd be bringing some deep-seated prejudices to this challenge? I cringe just looking at the photo of his dish, and I'm completely sympathetic to the judges when it comes to this particular mini-controversy. I try to keep an open mind. Really, I do. But as I've said, some techniques are traditional because they work. Those who suggest that Tre was booted for cooking his risotto "improperly" and not because it didn't taste good are, I think, assuming facts not in evidence. More likely, I think, the judges felt the flavor was lacking beacuse of Tre's technique, which is why the latter got all of the lip service. And because it's a sore point for those who are constantly frustrated by pasty risotto. I'm betting that if Tre's dish killed it, loose or stiff doesn't matter. It's illustrative of another Top Chef truism: you can succeed by stepping outside of the box, but you'd better make a great dish or you just hung yourself out to dry. Classy as always on the exit, though.

And I leave you with what I consider one of the funniest moments in Top Chef history.

Discuss!

Top Chef - S8E8 Postmortem

Feeling vindicated on many, many levels.

I cannot express how overjoyed I am to see the volume of love for dry pasta expressed both in the episode and in the blogs. Can we please make this mainstream knowledge? Are we finally shedding this pernicious myth that fresh pasta is superior?

That middle course really was a fantastic lesson on what not to do. And when we talk about how you can't say unless you taste -- almost always true -- Tre's risotto is a great example of how you only need to take one look at that picture to know so much is wrong. Yes, there's room for interpretation and personal spin, but some of the fundamentals have become so because they *work*.

I want to save some of this for the rankings. And I'd rather wait to write anything about the QF until I've had a chance to step back and be less annoyed by it as well (of course presentation is important, but really, what a joke).

Discuss!

Top Chef - S8E7 Power Rankings

Meanwhile, Ariane Duarte is on the Today Show making pasta shells with cottage cheese and reduced-calorie mozzarella.

Okay, that was a low blow (and true!). But it's meant to contrast what our final ten chefs were doing, which was being chefs... real, honest to god, restaurant chefs. What I loved about this episode was that it got beyond the cooking. The broader public has this notion that being a chef is about cooking, and it is, but only in part. There's so much more, and while this episode was obviously comprised of two cooking challenges, it went beyond the cooking, perhaps even more than your average restaurant wars.

Starting with the quickfire, yes, we had a close race between four (well, three, but we'll get into that) contestants to cook a delicious dish. But it was a challenge that highlighted other important aspects of cooking in a restaurant kitchen. For instance, speed. When it takes three sous chefs twice as long to cover his work, a man like Justo is worth his weight in gold, because when you're working on such narrow margins, less prep labor equals lower ingredient costs. Along those same lines, I adored Bourdain's twist, that the chefs would be working with the "waste." Even beyond the culinary nerdiness involved -- over the centuries, so much deliciousness has been extracted from so much "waste" as a matter of necessity -- again, it's a matter of economy. If you can make a dish or two with the leftover scraps, that's money in your pocket. The quickfire was a skills and creativity challenge, to be sure, but it was also a very practical challenge. It took the food and put into a context that's meaningful to restaurant chefs every day. And I geek out on that.

Then to Restaurant Wars, which is always a study in applied cookery, and this was no exception. The food is just the start. You have to be able to execute it. You have to be able to pace it. You have to be able to get it in the window and to the table. Your front of house staff needs to be on the ball. You can't have breakdowns in communication in the kitchen. Those who are leading must lead, and those who are following must follow. There's a reason so many professional kitchens resemble the military. It isn't enough to simply cook good food. Though it certainly helps.

Not a lot of movement, not a lot of surprises where the rankings are concerned. There are still some very close calls that I expect will waffle week in and week out, but we're definitely settling into a groove.

The power rankings are not purely a prediction of who is most likely to win, or an assessment of last episode's dishes, or a reflection of the contestants' historical performance, but rather a nebulous amalgam of all three, combined with a little bit of gut feeling, to provide a relative measure of current awesomeness.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Dale Quickfires 2 3 1 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 2 5 0 That groove starts with Dale, who only barely holds on to the top spot this week... this despite winning the QF and narrowly missing the EC. Which is a testament to Richard, but we'll get to him in a moment. In the meantime, you can read his frustrated tweets (I keed because I love, Richard). The argument against Dale is that he's had a few challenges right in his wheelhouse lately. And it's true, Asians and fish scraps go together like tomatoes and mozzarella. But look at how often -- even this season -- chefs have whiffed on challenges they should have crushed, and give credit where credit is due. Dale extends his tear to three episodes (two and a half, technically), and getting on a roll like that is what the Power Rankings are all about. Plus, I love how he hit this episode from both angles, winning the QF as a cook and the elimination as a chef. And since we've already addressed the former, let's address the latter. If this had been fantasy football, Dale just put together the draft of a lifetime. I'll address the Marcel thing later, but strictly on a pick by pick basis, he absolutely nailed it. And kudos to him for realizing that Fabio was the steal of the draft. For Restaurant Wars, at number eight, you bet he was. Way too much has been made in some corners about his tiff with the FoH staff. If that's as hot as he gets all season, and it seems that's as hot as he's gotten so far, this is a total non-issue. I don't know that he'll hold number one in the coming weeks, but he's performed as well as anybody so far and is unquestionably the hot hand right now, so here he stays.

2 Richard Quickfires 2 4 0 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 2 4 1 Apologies to Richard, who always seems to do well during a week when it's almost impossible to unseat the chef at the top. But even though he's sitting at number two (again), let's be clear... THIS is the Richard we've been waiting for. Creative, precise, collaborative, controlled... absolutely firing on all cylinders, and the only reason he isn't at number one is because Dale came in with so much momentum. That, and scales. Again. (Joke.) The recipe for his quickfire dish, the Schnitzel of Cod Belly with Ragout of Braised Collar and Fried Skin, is woefully incomplete (even if it's one of only six dishes that got a recipe at all... *sigh*), but what I like is that it's creative, it shoots for impact, but it shows that Richard can achieve that without resorting to whiz-bang techniques. I don't think there are many at this point who doubt there's hardcore talent behind the toys, but in case there are, this is Exhibit A. Moonen does a video demonstration of the Chicken-Fried Codfish with Brussels Kraut, but sadly nothing on the tuna and fried chicken skin. But the cod looks both creative and tight, and the tuna seemed to go over equally well. One other unheralded thing Richard's doing here is building respect with the other contestants. Tom's blog lends the impression that what put Richard over the top for the win was the supportive comments made by his teammates. Though it isn't necessarily a prerequisite, that kind of respect can pay dividends down the line. Ask Harold Dieterle. Or the lack of it can kill you. But we'll get to that.

3 Angelo Quickfires 0 0 3 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 2 5 1 Not a strong week for Angelo, but he's had enough success over the run of the season that he isn't in imminent danger of dropping any lower than number three, I think. He skirts through the QF unnoticed, and then overdoes (another) crudo and contributes to a lamb dish that sounds like it was mostly positive if not for firing issues. Though I try not to put too much stock in these ancillary skills, at least based on the edit we saw, I dispute Bourdain's suggestion that Antonia was the only grown-up in Etch's kitchen. Angelo certainly appeared to be trying to take the high road in a difficult situation, and there's a certain humility to coming out so strongly in saying that for that challenge it's his job to be a good soldier for Marcel. It could be calculated humility, to be sure, but even that is valuable.

4 Carla Quickfires 0 1 3 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 2 4 1 Though she's caught some flack in some parts, I don't see anything wrong with being a role player for a week when the challenge doesn't play to your strengths. While she's spent plenty of time on the line, as Carla herself points out in one of the online bonus videos, she doesn't have the same volume of restaurant kitchen experience as the other remaining contestants. So while there's nowhere to hide on the QF, during the elimination challenge, she plays it smart, focusing on what she does well and doing her part to make Bodega a success. Which isn't to take anything away from her dish. Anybody who thought that was a throwaway dessert should have a gander at the recipe. Flashy? No. But that's never been Carla's style, and it hasn't held her back much to date.

5 Mike Quickfires 1 3 2 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 2 1 One of this week's big movers -- if two positions can be called big -- is Mike, who despite getting into it with Marcel (and that sure didn't look like a one-way street), turns in a fairly good pair of challenges. Though his octopus and pork belly elimination dish gets kind of a Jekyll and Hyde edit, I'm left with the impression that it was a near miss on a good concept. And in the quickfire, he was right there with the big boys. For reasons I can't quite put my finger on, I don't quite see him as a true contender, but he goes to work and is fairly consistent about it. This was his first time on the block, it was as part of a losing team, and one gets the impression that his food was, with the possible exception of Antonia's, the strongest among his teammates. I see no reason to move Mike into the upper tiers, but he's been looking solid, which is more than can be said for some beneath him.

6 Antonia Quickfires 1 1 2 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 0 2 4 I like Antonia better at five or maybe even four, but I have to ding her for a rough week. She certainly seemed embarrassed by her fish, and Bourdain's blog suggests that it may have been even worse than you think (though how much of that is Bourdain's trademark hyperbole is difficult to discern). Her elimination dish, it seems, was a blunder. Which, to be clear, will get you sent home in a heartbeat, particularly in the latter half of this season. But having received praise for the gnudi, it sounds like she over-reduced her sauce. It's a simple mistake that has a huge negative impact. It's usually a matter of inattention. And though it won't save her if it happens again, methinks she can be forgiven to some degree for being distracted by the circus act taking place behind her.

7 Tre Quickfires 2 3 0 Last Week: 8 Eliminations 0 3 3 Tre doesn't move up so much as he watches Marcel fall past him, but I feel good about a small bump nonetheless since we got good Tre this week. Everybody had good things to say about his braised pork, and that recipe is the kind where you're building flavors, building flavors, building flavors, and that really seems to be Tre's strength... big, complex, intense flavor. At the risk of trying to pigeonhole him, and his success with Italian seafood notwithstanding, that kind of brash cooking seems to be what he does best. If he can stick to that playbook, I wonder if he might be able to hang around for a little while longer. But I think you still have to see him as one of those in most imminent danger of dismissal.

8 Fabio Quickfires 0 0 3 Last Week: 10 Eliminations 0 4 3 I've been awfully hard on Fabio from time to time, and despite the fact that he always seems to hang around, I still haven't seen much to make me change that opinion. But boy howdy, that isn't going to stop me from singing the praises of a virtuoso performance when I see one. Seriously, I realize this is a cooking show, but what a pleasure it is to see somebody command front of house like that. It's going to read like a backhanded compliment, but you watch this episode and you understand how his restaurants do well even when critics scorn the food. I suppose it IS a backhanded compliment, but my admiration for Fabio's performance this week is completely sincere. I would have loved to see him take home the win. I'm not sure who wrote it, but the sentiment is exactly right... if anybody was ever going to win Restaurant Wars for FoH, this was it. And hey, it sounds like he turned out a great dessert as well. Bravo, Fabio. I wish I could offer more than one foot out of the basement in recognition of a great performance.

9 Tiffany Quickfires 0 0 4 Last Week: 9 Eliminations 0 2 3 Even so, Tiffany made this an easy call. Though she showed some signs of life the past couple of episodes, Tiffany's mostly been on thin ice all season. She's right. Blowing a fish prep challenge when you're EC of a fish restaurant is really embarrassing (see: chefs not crushing challenges they should, above). And though her FoH performance was less than inspiring, particularly when intercut with one from a master of the same, I don't see the sense in dinging her for that. It'll never come up again. But I'll ding her for her dish, which nearly got her sent home. You never know, but I don't think we're going to see another late charge like we did last season.

10 Marcel Quickfires 0 4 1 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 1 1 2 Most of the post-elimination discussion of Marcel has focused on his attitude -- was it bad, how bad was it, how much of Etch's crash was his fault, etc. etc. I'm less concerned with that. From an entertainment standpoint, sure, but not so much from a Power Rankings standpoint. For me, all of the minutiae -- though much of it is entirely valid -- is extraneous information. Fact is, Marcel was a hair's breadth away from dead the moment Dale selected him to be a team captain (another brilliant move by Dale, incidentally). But the reason wasn't that he was bound to shoot himself in the foot. The reason was that he already had. Marcel was certainly right about one thing. You can't physically force people to do what you ask (at least, not... well... nevermind). But as atrocious as his attitude was at times during the EC, and as understandable as it was at others, that ship had already sailed. Because Restaurant Wars occurred 13 challenges into the season -- long enough for him to attract a good deal of animosity -- he went into the EC without a lick of respect from his team (except for Angelo, who gives the impression he would have obediently followed Sandra Lee over a cliff). Without that, there was absolutely nothing he could say or do that would have made him an effective leader. What he had to do was to make a killer dish so that somebody else could catch the axe. But Marcel illustrated two Top Chef truisms this week. The first is that the only thing worse than cooking bad food is cooking bad food and not realizing it. And the second is that your other actions might put you in the hole, but it's your food that will ultimately determine whether you stay or go. All the talk of Marcel's attitude and lack of leadership is interesting. It's even topical in that it addresses the difference between a cook and a chef. But it isn't why he went home. If even one of those dishes is good, Tiffany catches the axe instead. In the end, Marcel went home because he made two dishes that the judges hated. Bottom line.

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE EIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD

How awesome that season 8, episode 8 falls on Chinese New Year (in China)!

Oh, I'm not looking forward to this one. I try my best to be open-minded, but Italian is one realm where I have to admit to myself that I bring some strong prejudices to the table. The annoyance potential is high.

This is also, if you watch all of the preview material available, the most the elves have ever telegraphed a loser as far as I can remember. Which almost makes me think it's too obvious and that contestant must be safe. But since the finger is pointed so firmly at one person, even though it's officially published material and thusly fair game, I'm going to avoid discussion of it so as not to be spoiler-y.

Let me just reiterate that it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see Fabio bomb an Italian challenge. Particularly since it might be an Italian-American challenge (not the same). Don't assume he's a lock for the top.

Oh, and unless it's a red herring, Tom engages in some pretty ominous foreshadowing at the end of his blog:

"With half of our chefs now gone, the pressure is on to be sustainedly excellent. A minor slip can send someone home. I look forward to the weeks to come."

Sure sounds like he's trying to preempt criticism for an unpopular elimination to me.

Discuss!

Top Chef - S8E7 Postmortem

And with that, we secure what should be a relatively drama-free second half of the season.

I doubt anybody's too upset about Marcel leaving. Villain edit, actual villain, whatever. Rear view mirror.

Another killer episode. I hear ratings are down, but people are missing out.

And of course Dale and Blais BOTH show strong, making for another tough call at the top.

Top Chef takes the week off, and so do we. From Top Chef, that is. Rankings on the 31st(ish). Hoping to take care of some of the restaurant backlog this week now that we're relatively settled in the new place.

Discuss!

Top Chef - S8E6 Power Rankings

*phew*... Back at it, finally.

I apologize for last week, folks. Doing the rankings the week that I'm moving a family of four from house to house was probably a little ambitious to begin with, and I still would have gotten it done had our internet installation not taken a little longer than expected. I'm not against parking at an internet cafe (and have done so for the rankings before), but not this past week.

What a great episode! Really, what didn't they do, here? Fun setting that brings a little bit of the location into the show... check. A cooking challenge that sets the chefs up for success and lets them really express themselves... check. A setup that's even a little educational from a food standpoint... check. A framework that lets the chefs have some fun and makes for some interesting television beyond just the food angle... check. And what the hey, even a little smidgen of drama... check. It was all here, folks. In terms of setup, they don't get any better than this. Well, it'd be nice to get more than three recipes (you're KILLING me, elves).

So I have two episodes to process here, and though this is officially the rankings for episode six, really what we're looking at are two weeks of movement. And for the first time all season, I could go top to bottom and just snap them off without agonizing over them. There were some very close calls, but they were all ones I felt comfortable making. I wish I had more to say about the food, but I just don't have the data this season. So I'm doing the best I can. Let's get it on:

The power rankings are not purely a prediction of who is most likely to win, or an assessment of last episode's dishes, or a reflection of the contestants' historical performance, but rather a nebulous amalgam of all three, combined with a little bit of gut feeling, to provide a relative measure of current awesomeness.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Dale Quickfires 1 2 1 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 2 4 0 There's a new number one in town, and he has me wishing I'd trusted my gut and put him a little higher in the preseason. If you're a pure numbers person, it's tough to make an argument against Dale. He's tied for the most wins, the most elimination wins, the most top mentions, and the fewest bottom appearances. And let's be honest, if you have anger issues, watching that performance from Marcel without tossing him over the side of the building should almost be considered title-worthy right there. But most importantly, Dale's been putting in a true Power Rankings performance. Not only does he have numbers on his side, but he has swagger. He has mojo. He's got that intangible awesomeness that I like to see from whoever's sitting on top. Who can say if it will last for more than a week, and there are other chefs just waiting to pounce should he so much as stumble, but I feel totally comfortable putting Dale in the top slot.

2 Angelo Quickfires 0 0 3 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 2 5 0 Which isn't to say that Angelo has faded. He's having some quickfire issues, but two group dishes and a questionable decision not to heed Tom's advice on one challenge don't worry me too much. Along with Dale and Mike(!), he's one of three people who has yet to sniff the chopping block, and in a season where the "anybody can go home at any time" adage is magnified times ten, this is especially important. He's cooled off a bit after a red-hot start, but he's still looking strong.

3 Richard Quickfires 2 3 0 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 1 3 1 For those who have complained that Richard hasn't hit the top spot yet this season, I should clarify by saying that he might as well have been there. Angelo was quickest out of the gate, and I never felt there was an episode where there was enough momentum from either of them to justify switching positions. If it had been Richard who won that first elimination rather than Angelo, then 1 and 2 probably would have been reversed this whole time. So even though this week's misstep combined with Dale's strong showing pushes him down to number three, he's one wow dish away from the top. And though this seems like the wrong week to mention it, Richard is impressing with his consistency. This was really his first stumble all season, and I suspect he'll bounce right back from it. This is an analytical mind who will learn from his mistake and work to ensure it doesn't happen again. The biggest thing Richard has going for him is that we definitely haven't seen his best yet, and he's cooking well enough that there's no reason to believe he won't be around long enough to get all cylinders firing in sync. He's stalking just off the pace and I look forward to the charge. Any more metaphors I can cram into this paragraph?

4 Carla Quickfires 0 1 2 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 2 3 1 Six shows in, and Carla's owns a third of the elimination wins handed out so far. Which means the folks at Cinema Blend have seen fit to move her into their SECOND lowest position. Look, I understand the feeling that Carla isn't going all the way. I had it all the way through Season Five. But how long can you continue to explain away her success? Her bluefish dish... this is a smart, smart dish! And you take a look at those judges' faces while describing it and tell me she isn't legit. Do I think she's going to win? Probably not. I don't really think anybody below number three is going to win. But it's certainly a possibility, and I think you'd be a fool not to consider her among those with a shot.

5 Antonia Quickfires 1 1 1 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 2 3 The Black Hammer is back, crushing teammates with remorseless authority. But that bit of Top Chef history aside, Antonia continues to look a lot stronger to me this time out. If not for her teammates dragging her down, though the level of certainty depends on who's telling the story, she might very well have reeled in (ha!) her first elimination win. It's killing me that there's no recipe for her po-boy, because I'd love to see it. But in general, as I've mentioned before, there's a certain creative spark to her dishes that was missing last time around, and combined with her technical skill, that makes her very, very dangerous. Dangerous enough that I even considered putting her at number four. Consider this a full 180 from season four. I'm no longer expecting another deftly-executed snoozer. I'm anxious to see what she puts up next.

6 Marcel Quickfires 0 3 1 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 1 1 1 With Marcel, we leave the realm of sunshine and happiness and drift into the question marks. I put Marcel at the top of this imaginary tier because he's met with some success and had some near misses. But he's still not wowing anybody, and there have been a couple of challenges where you'd think he really should have done better. I'm going to take a moment to defend the use of foam, both in general and from Marcel. Yes, it's overused, and yes, it's become the poster child for style over substance cuisine. But let's not dismiss a tool's value because it's wielded a little too often. Though even that would be an unfair characterization of Marcel's performance so far, which has spanned six episodes, included eleven dishes, and featured one (1) foam. The beach... mmmmmay not have been the best time to finally bust it out. But the guy went a third of the way through the season before using it for the first time. Cut him some slack. Except when it comes to the rapping and posturing. No quarter, there.

7 Mike Quickfires 1 2 2 Last Week: 9 Eliminations 0 2 0 On one hand, Mike is one of the three who have never been on the chopping block. On the other hand, he only just won his first challenge last episode, even if it was for a car. Which I guess means he's following the exact same trajectory as season six... proficient enough to hang around, but not impressive enough to make it to the final stages. Still, consistency is big. He could sneak in there.

8 Tre Quickfires 2 3 0 Last Week: 10 Eliminations 0 2 3 Tre's met with a little success, which is why I have him a couple spots out of the basement, but he's also gotten himself into an awful lot of trouble. And while I don't like to flat-out discount wins, a team QF and a stuffing don't scream going deep. What's more, Gail's blog confirmed my suspicion that with Dale and Carla on his team, he was along for the ride to the top this week. I think he's one of those you have to consider in imminent danger.

9 Tiffany Quickfires 0 0 3 Last Week: 13 Eliminations 0 2 2 Between a good team performance this week and top mention for her dim sum last week, I flirted with the idea of moving Tiffany above Tre. But she's warming up only in the sense that she's no longer dead cold. Still, it's enough to pull her out of the basement...

10 Fabio Quickfires 0 0 2 Last Week: 12 Eliminations 0 3 3 ...which is where I'm returning Fabio. I should probably be applying the Carla logic to him as well, but I just can't. I don't see it. And thankfully those who are immediately above him have done well enough at times that I don't have to. Again, I like the guy. He obviously turns out some good dishes and it's landed him on top a few times, but he's still a bottom magnet.

11 Tiffani Quickfires 1 2 2 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 0 0 3 Bummer, man. So much for my dark horse. Though it sounds like enough people picked her to finish high that perhaps she wasn't as dark of a horse as I thought. Rather poetic that Tiffani was sent home for the very mistake Carla made a point to avoid: leaving the bloodline in the bluefish. What's frustrating to me is that it seemed like Tiffani just never got going, an assessment that she shares in her exit interview. Though from her demeanor you'd think it bothers her less than it bothers me. Still, I always like to see competitors going out while doing their best, particularly when I think highly of them. Not to be.

12 Jamie Quickfires 0 0 3 Last Week: 11 Eliminations 0 1 3 And that's the theme for this week, since the same can be said of Jamie, who was even less of her old self than Tiffani. At least when it came to food, though it should probably be noted that at extended JT, despite the specific criticisms, the judges discussed how it was difficult to send people home for making great (if less great) food. In terms of attitude, I'll personally miss having Jamie around. It's been like reliving the '90s every Wednesday, minus the grunge soundtrack. Cook or don't. Whatever.

I feel like we've finally settled in and have a sense of where everybody stands. Now to see who does and doesn't live up to expectations.

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE SEVEN SPOILERS AHEAD

Restaurant Wars! Nice and early this season. Though I have Fabio in the basement, him going home for running FoH just doesn't seem possible. And I'm not buying the Dale freakout. Seems like classic misdirection to me. Momentary annoyance swept under the rug, I bet. With this group, Restaurant Wars could... just maybe... go unusually smoothly. But Bourdain takes such quiet glee in talking about how he had a part in the challenge's design that I smell something evil. Bank on it.

Discuss!