It was. Even though in this episode, the QF was part of the meal progression, they don’t factor the QF result into the elimination this season. (Also, Anthony won the QF, so Oscar hadn’t won anything.
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That’s right, my bad. Oscar was in the top 3, which is what I remembered. vs Rhoda’s app being criticized.
Here’s Vulture’s review. Pretty similar to my thought process.
I had forgotten that there was already a failed meringue this season (despite a full day in the dehydrator) – and it was even in the episode in which Rhoda was eliminated!
And also that Tom weirdly picked on Oscar before, and has an obvious soft spot for Rhoda from LCK (aside from the storyline value of the LCK winner making it to the final).
I’m surprised by all of Rhoda’s choices for her Elimination dish. First, she decided to make Eton mess, which would feature meringue — and we’ve already seen someone fail at making meringue this season. Brandon tried to make meringue back in “Cut and Dry” (the episode in which Rhoda was eliminated), and even with a full day in a dehydrator, his meringues were too soft and we saw him pivot and bake a cupcake instead. Why did Rhoda think she could pull off meringues in a fraction of that time? And when the meringues failed, why not try something else?
Given the intensity of Kristen’s reaction to Rhoda’s dessert and the fact that Oscar succeeded in the Quickfire while Rhoda’s dish was criticized for being overly salty, I thought Rhoda would go home. But instead, it’s Oscar, and, yes, I think Tom threw this elimination a little bit. He was offended by Oscar’s rice from the moment that dish came out, criticizing it as somehow deviating from Oscar’s red-meat directive, and I think he couldn’t let it go (like he couldn’t get over Oscar’s broken whipped cream back in “Desserts Fit for a Queen”. It’s sort of funny because you would think, based on Tom’s critique of the rice not being needed for a red-meat dish, that he would also say Sherry’s chicken thighs, peppers, and corn deviated from her seafood dish, but … I guess not!
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To be fair, while everyone seems to be focused on the rice, there were plenty of other criticisms of Oscar’s dish: dry, way too much turmeric, too much going on and none of it working together.
We know they actually spend a ton more time hashing things out at judges’ table than the little we see, so who knows. I do think Tom has a bit of a weighted role there, though.
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Sure, but line those up against what Rhoda put up (and what Kristen and others said about that along the way), and it just doesn’t line up.
I don’t think was just Tom, though. It’s a reality show, after all, and the producers do want a “story” – it would have fallen flat for the consistent winner of LCK to flame out immediately upon return.
I will say that I think the “salty” critique was the only meaningful one offered for Roda’s oyster cracker. My impression was that it was liked and the innovation appreciated but it wasn’t quite up there. So not so much meaningful as the thing both judges and editors could focus on to explain why it didn’t rate higher. Hers wasn’t the disaster that Sieger’s was.
it might also have been the cascade of foolish errors on Oscar’s part that took him out. One bad decision after another save for a bad decision plus failure to pivot well. But yeah, could also be to hold onto the brand of LCK.We
I’m reading Kristen’s memoir right now and the process of putting the show together is interesting. Yeah I agree about the elimination and wanting to not mess up a storyline.
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To be fair, while everyone seems to be focused on the rice, there were plenty of other criticisms of Oscar’s dish: dry, way too much turmeric, too much going on and none of it working together.
That was my impression as well. I love Oscar as a contestant - really fun and also has had some amazing dishes, but he’s had a fair share of misses too. It sounded like a number of mistakes on a whole made it a more unforgivable error rather than a dish with terribly prepared merengue.
- Adding rice that muted flavors
- Rice was overcooked
- Adding rice in a progressive menu when there is already a separate rice course before it! – This seemed a big one
- Turmeric explosion
I do think some consideration was given that the other chef inherited the dish and kind of got stuck with a minimal amount of money they could spare.
A Top Chef recap
Bummed of who was sent home last night - loved watching that cheftestant even with the highs and lows of each episode.
Also bummed - where is my traditional mise en place relay? Probably one of my favorite quickfire challenges. I personally love watching everyone have to run and stumble and show us their chef-fy skills, so this is missing some of the chaos that makes the traditional version so much fun to watch.
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Yeah I agree and also wish they had kept last chance kitchen going longer.
I finished Kristen’s memoir last night and seems like there’s a lot of opportunities that come with being on top chef. She was the winner so I’m curious if top 3 or 4 also benefit from the show. Besides hosting other shows she seemed to get hired as a spokesperson by a lot of food related products.
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Tiffany Faison from Season 1 (I think she was runner up maybe) is still on TV all the time (Food Network stuff I think, don’t really watch FTV anymore). I don’t think you really need to win any of the reality shows to keep your 15 minutes going (Survivor, Top Chef, Project Runway, etc)
Oh yeah, and Edward Lee (Season 9 - 5th place) was recently on the Korean cooking challenge “Culinary Class Wars” (I liked that show). He could have been on more, I don’t know.
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She’s also on Tournament Of Champions now as kind of a host moderator. All these people seem to move around and lots of the same faces popping up everywhere. I do think top chef was kind of the gold standard for a long time and getting on it and doing well is great for your career.
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Thought this was cute! https://www.instagram.com/p/DYOBEHoDSpT/?img_index=1
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A lot of the fan favorites - or at least those with the bubbly on screen personalities - seem to do really well even if they didn’t win. Thinking of Shota (love him!), Carla, Fabio (of hambooger fame), and probably others I’m missing. They’ve made quite a few appearances on TV as hosts, on other competitions, online channels, or some sort media keeping them in the public eye.
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Yes it’s the ones with big personalities and probably good on camera presence. I also really like Shota. Seems like a low key nice guy.
I like him too, but never think of him as low key! That laugh!
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Dont’ forget every episode is a chance to advertise the sort of thing you might get at their restaurant. Each week is an advertisement of sorts. There’s definitely a benefit beyond winning, otherwise I don’t think people would risk the work and family time and other resources this could take. I mean some risk, but not without rewards beyond Top Chef winner.
Carla was so great and I cried for her when she listened to Casey and didn’t stick to her food. Oh, and Mr. Hambooger. First of all people put brisket in their hamburgers now and it’s great. I never understood that they didn’t like that. But Fabio was by far the best host on restaurant wars. I just loved him.
You can find him as well on “Chef and My Fridge,” available on Netflix: Another Korean show, in which chefs cook a dish for a celebrity guest judge, using ingredients from a fridge that is supposedly a copy of said guest’s real fridge. (Absolutely not recommended unless you’re desperate 
)
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There is yet another Food Network starting that might be a US version. The commercial reminded me of Culinary Class Wars. I enjoyed it, but the need to keep my eyes on the screen to read the sub titles got in the way for me.
