Top Chef Masters "You May Now Feed The Bride" (8/1/12) [*SPOILERS*]

[ipsedixit]

Wedding party for a couple that got stiffed by their caterers.

Patricia Yeo wins

Bye-bye Ms. Gold.

Art survives even with his leaning tower of Pisa wedding cake.

[babette feasts]

The groom said the cake was his favorite course, so between that and the level of difficulty of producing a tiered cake in short time, I was not surprised that Art stayed. A guests comment that Debbie's dish was the weirdest thing they had ever eaten was also telling.

I think it was Thierry who forgot the basket with the crabmeat - wasn't he the one getting it at the fish counter? Loved seeing his wedding photos, those cracked me up.

[wincountrygirl]

Not Thierry - and I can't think of the guys name - starts with a K.

[Dee S]

It was Kerry Heffernan. He left the shopping cart behind.

[wincountrygirl]

Thanks! I totally blocked on is name.

[babette feasts]

Ah. Apologies to Thierry.

[fame da lupo]

Haven't watched a TCM since season 2 (didn't enjoy it) and I also (really) didn't like the last season of TC -- can someone tell me their perception of this season's TCM? Worth catching up on?

[Worldwide Diner]

Not in my opinion. Less accomplished chefs and more bitchiness (mostly from Art Smith).

[fame da lupo]

Thanks for saving me some time :-)

[LindaWhit]

fame, I didn't watch TC3, but this one doesn't seem that bad - so far. There will always be drama - especially from Art Smith. Here's hoping he goes soon.

[dave_c]

Art may have baked a cake for Lady Gaga, Oprah and Maya Angelou. The real info I want to know is did he get repeat business for his cake?

[arjunsr]

that's what i want to know. even disregarding the horrible form i thought the actual taste had mixed reviews. i was shocked at him not being the loser. hope the judges take a lesson from this. there was an earlier season of regular top chef when they used a box cake for the wedding cake for just this reason. they weren't going to have their cake be a failure and were killed by the judges for going box cake.

[saeyedoc]

There was an episode of the Cake Boss competition show where someone used a mix, how stupid is that?

[californiabeerandpizza]

This TCM seems pretty good so far. I'm not sure why they are brining back chefs that have already been on, aren't there other candidates available? On a side note; there is a Top Chef-type show on the French Channel (TV5 Monde) called Comme Un Chef. A little late with this since the finale is tonight but it has English subtitles if you know someone who gets that channel. The cooks are very young (in the 17-21 range) and the chef in the Coliccio role goes through the kitchen and gives them advice while they are cooking. They accumulate points through the competition until they get down to the final three so one bad dish won't automatically send a cook packing. They all go out drinking after the challenges and since it's in Belgium they're always drinking excellent beer. One difference I've noticed is that the cleanliness of the work station is stressed and they always exchange tasting spoons rather than double dipping the way they do on Top Chef.

[chicgail]

And Art Smith name drops and name drops and name drops and everyone who hears him is eminently impressed.

[Worldwide Diner]

Not sure why he's a TCM. He's never won anything for his cooking, has he? All he does is pat himself on the back. Oh he ran all the way to the Lincoln Memorial with his husband. Do I care? No. STFU and cook something good or go home.

[DGresh]

Yeah, that segment seemed really long and out of place. But the chef he was with (can't remember her name; the one from Venezuela) seems to think he's a riot. At least on tape.

[chicgail]

Her reaction was a little over the top. Did she really think he was funny? Was it for the cameras? Was she a little pumped up by something? It didn't look very authentic. ("Oh, that's a really GOOD one!")

[ennuisans]

I thought she was just humoring his longwinded story in hopes of him finishing and them getting back to work. Perhaps because I've done this myself so many times. Uh huh, uh huh, that's fantastic, so do you have enough frosting?

[chicgail]

LOL! You are probably right on the money.

[Dee S]

Lorena Garcia may have been remarking that Art made a comment without famous names.

She doesn't know him but they have so much in common; he's a chef, she's a chef. He's married to a Venezuelan, she's Venezuelan. Seals the deal for me....NOT! :)

[FoodPopulist]

You weren't paying attention last week when he mentioned his two James Beard Awards? (I looked it up...one for a cookbook and some sort of humanitarian award, it seems.)

[Worldwide Diner]

You weren't paying attention last week when he mentioned his two James Beard Awards? (I looked it up...one for a cookbook and some sort of humanitarian award, it seems.)
***
I looked it up too - but it was just info from Wikipedia so I can't be sure.

[2roadsdiverge]

I have to keep reminding myself that the editors *chose* to include three Lady Gaga references and all the other name dropping. That could also have been prompted by a PA during the interviews. "Tell us again about the cake."

[FoodPopulist]

He may be contractually obligated to mention her as much as possible, since he apparently works for her parents.

[piccola]

Sure, they chose to include it -- but he still had to mention it several times for them to do that. Even with prompting, that's a lot.

[LindaWhit]

I was surprised Art survived. And HELLO? Please *stop* name dropping - "I just baked Lady Gaga's 25th birthday cake, Maya Angelou's anniversary cake, Oprah's parties..." Geez.

Did Takashi's Pork Belly/Daikon Bun ever get shown being served? I honestly don't remember it. Clark Fraiser's BBQ Duck Lettuce Cups and Chris Cosentino's Braised Pork with Aioli and Adobo both looked amazing!

Patricia Yeo is killing it. Figured it would be Debbie or Art.

[debbiel]

I really, really wanted it to be Art. Fingers crossed for next week.

I would love to have that Cosentino dish. Right now.

ETA: I meant that Cosentino braised pork dish, but he is kind of cute...

[LindaWhit]

LOVE the "ETA" comment. ;-)

[jujuthomas]

me too, made me LOL. He is pretty cute. :)

[Dee S]

He's gotten better looking with age. When he got married, he had blue hair....and I don't mean blue in the "old lady" blue sense. it was ROYAL.

And he can cook up a storm....

[mariacarmen]

i LOVE Cosentino. my sister and i ate one of his tail to trotters menus (molto offal) at Incanto, and it was a challenge (just so very rich). I'm trying to get the BF to go to his restaurant for our birthdays next week, because the menu isn't all innards. however, as a further example of what to love about Cosentino, this is a current entry on his online sample menu: "Seared foie gras, copy of California Penal Code 422 & dry oats AQ". LOVE IT!

[debbiel]

Your post was a nudge for me to look at the menu. And their twitter feed. And now I want to head out to SF. :)

I think the tail to trotter menu would be a challenge for me, too, though in the 1.5 years since I left my vegetarian lifestyle behind, I've made progress on trying more. Enjoyed liver for the first time this last week after choking it down or going hungry so many evenings of my childhood (this week it was lamb liver, beautifully prepared, and a small portion), chowed down on pig ears and snouts a few times in Spain in the last year, had some sweetbread in lettuce wrap dish recently. But there's much more to try, and I still have a mental block on lots of it (tongue and brain in particular). If Cosentino would like to be my guide... ;)

[mariacarmen]

wow - going from veggiehood to innards is a big leap! looks like you're facging the change head on! (pun intended.)

the menu my sister and i shared at Incanto was ALL offal, even to the dessert, and i think it was something like 10 courses. we could not finish it. the server told us that we had done very well, that the only people who can usually get all the way through are chefs. it was just too much for us. i actually left feeling ill - and that is not a dig at Cosentino's abilities as a chef. it was just too rich for us. but, i'm dying to go back again and try his regular menu.

you should try tongue at a jewish deli first, if you can - that was my intro to it - it almost tastes like cold roast beef you'd have on a sandwich.

[DGresh]

My thoughts: Patricia has an odd demeanor. Very low key, kind of like the engineers I work with (and am). Art is annoying with the name dropping. That chef couple from Maine look like twins. For the life of me I can't tell them apart. And the wedding couple seemed very nice, and very willing to like everything, which when you think about it, is a good way to approach your wedding, and life in general. And would you really want all those Bravo folks sitting in the back pew of your wedding for goodness sakes? Or sitting with your brothers? It seemed odd. I know they had to be there, but right at one of the tables like they were family?

[LindaWhit]

Clark has the bowl cut haircut. Mark doesn't. :-)

[2roadsdiverge]

Art mentioned three times that he baked Lady GaGa's birthday cake, twice to camera and once to the couple.

[Dee S]

New drinking game!!! Whenever Art drops a name, drop a shot!!!

We'd be hammered by first commercial break!

Oh....that cake was h-3-l-l.

I wanted Chris to win.

[debbiel]

Shame on you for encouraging incredibly irresponsible drinking. You must work for a liquor store or distributor. :)

[Worldwide Diner]

I'm just wondering how the couple ended up on TCM. Do you write TCM a sob story? If TCM said no, then what would've happened? Do they have to report the value of the services received as income?

[Pantz]

The sad story of the couple involved a sudden death (the maid of honour) as well as the shady caterer. They contacted their local news station hoping to get some help with the caterer, someone from the Magical Elves saw the item and contacted them.

The bride actually posted several times (appears to be legit) over on the A.V. Club review (see the TV Club section). There's some interesting perspective on her reactions versus the editing, but on the whole, there appears to be less reality show manipulation of events then you would think

[Joanie]

The couple seemed to like everything. I always think these wedding challenges in 12 hrs are completely ridiculous and while Art was namedropping like crazy on this one, I felt bad about the cake.

I don't like watching Mark, Clark or Patricia.

What happened to the other crabmeat? I wasn't really paying attention, did it just get left in a cart?

Mariacarmen, the first episode was discussed in the general Top Chef Masters thread but I prefer the separate threads.

[jujuthomas]

someone left a cart with the crab meat and a few other items near the fish counter IIRC.

that cake was a train wreck, I wanted to tell Art to shut it already, and I actually winced when he presented it to the bride and groom. I was glad they liked the flavor, but it was SO ugly, even before it tipped over!

[debbiel]

I thought it was ugly pre-tip, too. His comment that the cake would be inspired by a birthday cake he made for Lady Gaga was nice foreshadowing for that.

[linus]

best.recap.ever.

[LindaWhit]

deleted...

[debbiel]

Ha! Just a different style than our wonderful Linda Whit.

I would offer one significant edit to this recap. Something along the lines of, "Art knows famous people."

[Debbie M]

Wow, that sure was a nice looking Ranch 99. I thought they were in Whole Foods until I saw the boxes of Asian brand hair coloring.

[mariacarmen]

i can't believe i looked here first before i finished watching. even with the Spoiler Alert. Why is that wombat Stone hosting again? Didn't he just finish his other ridiculous show?

Is there a thread for the first episode of the season? I completely missed it.

that pork belly looked stunning.

I'd love to have that Patricia spoonful!

Cosentino's dish sounds awesome too. This is all before the judging.

[ipsedixit]

Is there a thread for the first episode of the season? I completely missed it.
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[FoodPopulist]

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