Except that there was some feedback that Howie's canapes tasted good in spite of their scatalogical appearance. Nikki's evidently tasted bad and were made worse by Dale's addition of the cheese.

BTW, I answer more readily to MoHub, Mom, or Your Majesty.

Too bad they didn't go for chimps. In addition to the usual plant matter, they eat insects and occasionally attack and eat baby baboons.

I thought blueberries and walnuts was a strange filling, but then again, I thought the peach and sausage pizza sounded pretty bizzare and the judges loved it.

I think if her dish had been better she would have been called on it. Even if it was the best dish of all 15 they could have eliminated her for not following the brief. As it turned out the dish was crappy so it wasn't necessary.

I'm working on it chica. Got too many projects going at one time. Tape cozy is time consuming cause you have to use so many damn toothpicks!

Watch it again sweetie. The top is all toothpicks.

Have to give you a shout out for that one!

WhataJoke, she *might* have taken lots of heat over the Gorilla station serving a crab salad - and we might not have seen that in those very brief Judges Table excerpts. But, I didn't read Gail or Tom or Padma dwelling on that in their blogs.

I would have given her heat about that, I would have grilled Team Gorilla on the process they used that led up to two bad dishes. Pre-cooked reheated blinis that had Rutabaga on top? Apparently their "brief" mentioned that gorillas do eat root veggies, but that's no excuse. And crab salad?

In fairness to Stephanie, and to the extent that "It's all about the food," she made two dishes - one was quite fine, according to judges (the banana bread thingee), and one would have been fine if she'd executed it properly. Out of place, but a crab salad is still good food. Valerie's one contribution was all wrong from conception thru execution.

Strange thing is, just like with the Fashionista Cruise, the chefs and teams had plenty of time to do their planning. They didn't even go shopping till the next day. Plenty of time to warn teammates off from bad ideas, to sort of work the thing out in their head and foresee problems...

There are DEFINITELY better men!

I wonder if soaking in milk will make my fat taste better - hhhmmm.

From Tom's blog: "Ultimately we decided Stephanie -- who, despite her watery crab salad, had redeemed herself with the delicious banana bread with salted caramel sauce -- could stay." -- ummm nope, no mention.

Gail's blog: "If I had to choose another career, I would definitely be a zoologist. Since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated by the animal kingdom, and have spent a decent amount of my free time learning about the habitats and diets of creatures both big and small. " --Did you study the importance of crab in a mountain gorilla's diet?

"On the other hand, while I understand that gorillas eat root vegetables, the black olive blini with fennel mascarpone, rutabaga, and beets seemed completely out of place at the Gorilla Team’s table" -- nope, but at least you understand they eat root veggies

"Along with that weak attempt at blini, they also served an extremely watery, not to mention poorly-seasoned, crab salad with roasted pear and celery root. While the dish was Stephanie’s doing, she did redeem herself by producing respectable banana bread with salted caramel and meringue" -- still nothing about the dietary crab suppelments

And since Padma is incapable of putting pen to paper I still refuse to "watch" her blog but I doubt she said anything about gorilla's preference for crab, either... So, good question. Seems to have been overlooked by the judges... at least what we saw and/or read.

Man, I thought I was the only one that noticed that or something... I thought that was bull$hit that they disqualified Andrew, & then didn't even say a flippin word to Steph. Not very fair in my opinion.

1. (Not trying to be a jerk, but...) Maybe you should be more critical...or less naive...IF the producers independently picked the two and THEN and only then found out they were a couple...that is one thing. It's another to pick them over equally qualified chefs. I just think it is incredibly suspect, especially when they are already setting a blog up for them as a couple. Why would they do that if there was not a bias?

2. Granted Nimma 86'd herself with the salt. I am NOT a Muslim, I just think it is part and parcel of a network bias. "We don't like this (Islam) AND we want to promote that (homosexuality).

3. If I want to rant and rave, I would never consider the feelings of those reading it simply because YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ IT. My opinions are mine. Do you expect anyone to parce comments to make you feel better about yourself?

4. SF is hardly a "culinary hub", Seattle--yes, New York--YES, but SF? My work (and play) has taken me to four continents and nearly every major city in the US. I have been to SF no less than 6 times in the past decade and I never went for the food. SF is not a culinary "hub" in the US, much less the world. On the West Coast, Seattle mops the floor with SF. There is good food and there are talented chefs in San Fran, given its population and status as a large metropolis, but culinary hub?

5. Who stated they were picked because they are gay? I'm just saying three from one city? Spread the wealth. No one from Washington, D.C.? Miami? etc.

Quick hits:

Who knew that using eucalyptus leaves was "molecular gastronomy"?

When you've got 30 minutes to shop in a market, you've always got time to tithe the busker.

Chicken soup without the soup. Who knew?

Methinks that Kiwi needs to listen to a little more Crowded House. Mellow out, mate. I'm hoping that he wins so that I don't have to trot out the obvious, "Don't Dream It's Over".

Andrew: "I"m a dumbass". You said it, not me.

I always thought that lesbians spooning would be more arousing. Maybe it was the clothes.

It's not good to be FROM Chicago in this competition.

I can't believe that Gail and Tom didn't understand that adding pecorino cheese to the mushrooms was supposed to represent undigested pine nuts fed to Yellowstone bears by upscale tourists.

Valerie: "Right away, Stephanie and I started throwing things at each other". Less throwing, more thinking.

Wondering how an immersion circulator fits into a $200 budget. Maybe he bought his at Goodwill and has a receipt to prove it.

I'm thinking that these chefs aren't.

Finding out that "molecular gastronomy" doesn't require gadgets. Like pocket smokers and immersion circulators.

I'm wondering how they're going to use ras el hanout next week.

Who is more stupid - Padma and Gail asking to eat bear droppings, or the chefs that gave in and served it to them"?

Hey Dale - it's "lipstick on a pig", not "put perfume on a pig". But nice try pandering to Bourdain. Shame he's not listening or judging.

I'm a little worried about putting Andrew within close proximity of knives.

I can hardly wait for Top Chef - Little Rock.

Gorillas *love* their edamame, but only when they can get a good fatty otoro nigiri with it.

Dale: I'm not trying to put blame on you, Nikki"...what the editing fairies left out was "...I was just trying to perfume you".

If I texted that Chef Tom was b. a bear, does this mean that I would be eligible to win a free one year subscription to The Advocate?

Tasting the food - generally a good thing.

Everytime Tom said the word rutabaga, I wanted to do an Eva Gabor imitation and shout, "Rutabega daaaaahlink"!

Banana bread redemption - who knew? Perhaps they could serve them at communion instead of those dry little wafers.

Boy, Hung's monkey sure has beefed up. I wonder if it's human growth hormones. He *did* sort of look like Roger Clemens after a two week backpacking trip.

Oh and Wiley Dufresne was one of my favorite guest judges in a long time (Bordain not withstanding). I thought he was fair, entertaining and respectful of the contestants.

I loved the sideburns comments. I liked that while he offered his opinion on what Spike should have done he wasn't overly critical and that he obviously didn't use this guest judging appearence as a means to make hiself some type of personality. (Yeah you Rocco and Foul mouthed Mike)

I remember him being in the season 2 finale. Given how Marcel lost that episode and how Wiley was unimpressed with Bob's Big Boy's Koala Chicken during the quickfire, I have to say I love that Wiley can weed out a Gastronomic fraud when he sees one.

PlayHomoPhobic, you're not really saying that, are you? Most foodies do consider SF and the Bay Area to be quite important and influential food hubs. Quite. And that's not kept secret.

It's home to Alice Waters, who probably has had a greater impact on American cuisine and professional cooking than any other single individual in the last two decades. In addition to helping to establish a recognizable and highly respected "California Cuisine," she and her SF and Bay Area Minions have helped promote the "local and seasonal" type of cooking that's so widespread now. And the Slow Food movement.

It's not that Alice Waters did that alone, it was chefs and restaurants in SF and the Bay Area who joined with her that make the area a hub.

You're also talking about the "Food Hub" that more than any other really pioneered the incorporation of East and Southeast Asian ingredients and techniques into more conventional Western cooking. I dislike calling that Fusion, I dislike calling that Pan-Asian, I dislike calling that Pacific Rim Cuisine, but it's recognizable and successful and highly regarded. It's exactly what Stephanie did last week with her duck a l'orange featuring a duck spring roll. Stephanie's not the pioneer, but the chefs and restauranteurs and cooks in SF and the Bay Area, yeah, they are.

There's bad food in SF too, as anywhere, and the worst freakin bowl of Pho I've ever had in my life was served to me there.

But get real. You're trying to make the argument that SF is not a major food hub and therefore because you assert it is a gay hub that's the reason why chefs from SF are participating in Top Chef. Some kind of Gay Culinary Agenda.

There are many words that might be offered to you in response, but may I instead just silently offer you a Pooshroom? Or some underdone Rutabaga?

Seattle has really only been a culinary hub for a short while. It's taken some column space away from SF, which was THE culinary hub on the coast for a century. It's had a vibrant Chinatown for the longest of any city in the US. And where do you think cioppino was invented? Simon mentioned Alice Waters and, next to her and Julia Child, Waters' chef, Jeremiah Tower was one of the first American celebrity chefs. He virtually invented the gourmet pizza.

Oh yeah, and there's Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat.

I know absolutely nothing about chefery or haute cuisine...but even I know that San Francisco is and always has been a center for food. My question is Seattle? WTF??? Haven't heard that one.

I've heard Seattle mentioned, but only recently, and typically in connection with Portland. As places where chefs are working with their own local ingredients and treasures, with elements of their local culinary heritage, and doing some new and interesting things. A kind of Pacific Northwest stamp on foods. To the extent that folks in other American regions are doing the same, I'm not sure that Seattle and Portland stand out from the others.

Simon I agree, I just think that when you lay out a challenge with distict guidelines such as this one, when you stray from the guidelines AND your dish fails you should get heaps of scorn.

Crab salad? First of all it's a Salad. Where is Tom's requisite salad explosion? Second it was a salad you eat with your hands and that in not exactly bite sized. Third it had Crab in it which is only slightly more relevent to a Gorrilla's diet than Cheesecake (Banana Cheesecake would have worked ). And fourth...it sucked. At least the Blini had a root vegetable on it but it sucked too.

And the fact that they had plenty of time should have made the scorn for choosing any ingredient instead of ones related to said Animal's diet should have been more of an issue.

It was also interesting that Tom did ask Antonia who she would have hired, basically assuming she was the leader, but never dinged her for being the leader of the team that produced two of the three worst dishes.

Whata, I'm sure some people will object to Tom asking Antonia who'd she hire - I'm not sure he did it cause he saw her as a team leader, my guess about that was different. I think it *can* be valid to ask a chef who she'd hire, to the extent that she saw how her teammates handled planning, teamwork, conception and execution. Should hae seen that more closely than than a judge could. I'd have said I'd hire Stephanie too.

But if you're a team with a brief that lists only vegetarian items in a Gorilla's diet, and you deviate really wildly from that concept, if you don't step up and seize the title of Team Veggie in a catering event... I'm gonna wanna issue team-wide dings for that.

1. Of course they pciekd the two because they were a couple. It sucks for the competiton but from Bravo's perspective its a great twist on the show, right out of the gate and it appeals to a major segment of Bravo's audience. Hell they already have their own blog waiting for them.
I only have a problem with it from a competition standpoint. And since both of them seem talented (They were both on the winning teams last night) it could be very hard for the other contestants to eliminate them provided they don't shoot themselves in the foot.

2. "Nimma 86'ed herself with salt." You really needed to stop that thought right there.

I'm sorry but Nimma could have been the first African American Lesbian Pope, when you frack up a flan and prepare your shrimp with enough salt for a voyage on the Santa Maria, your going home.

3. Thank God your opinions are yours.

4. San Fransico was the Site of the First Top Chef. I'm sure that they chose it because it was so awful that they would just get it out of the way with the first season right?

5. Last season they had 3 contestants from Miami.

Andrea the Blogger has an interesting idea for next week's challenge:

“Make dinner for Eliot Spitzer and his team of lawyers. You have $80,000 and only nine ingredients, one of which must be tongue. GO!"

I think part of it is Nikki and team did not serve the bad 'srooms until the judges asked. At least, at the end, they had the good sense to not serve some poopsrooms to everyone.

The other team had two bad dishes....50% of their presentation was a flop, so if I was judging, I would have had to vote off from the least successful team. And Stephanie did save herself with her banana bread.

He seems to think that using an unusual ingredient, that most chefs would walk away from, makes it molecular gastronomy.

I don't know about that whole genre of food. I've eaten at WD-50 three times. Once it was fabulous, once it was like edible wallpaper and once it was honest to goodness cringe worthy. I don't want to spend that much money on what seems like a crap shoot.

As far as that whole Bear thing? The gay community seems to view us an amusing subculture. They wouldn't mind hanging with us, but they wouldn't want their best friend to marry one. I don't think you'll get a whole lot of huzzahs from The Advocate.

As for Tom and Padma asking to eat bear droppings? It was there, so it was obviously edible, in some fashion, and they wanted to see. I can't blame them, but I wouldn't want to eat that.

Then, again, I have a adverse reaction to anchovies, so I would have had to be convinced that I would like that before putting it in my mouth. I don't think that's happening.

And a big lesson is don't mix anything before you have to. As soon as I saw her mixing that crab salad that far ahead I knew it would be watery.

But, I also knew that those blinis would be hockey pucks. I used to eat at the Russian Tea Room. You can put as much stuff as you want on them, and down them with as mush iced vodka or champagne you can get, but they'll still be miniature hockey pucks.

I have eaten a lot of things I knew I wouldn't like, and enjoyed them, so maybe if it hadn't been so apparent it was fish I would have changed my mind. I'm not real big on fish skin.

Oh, and Crowded House was a pretty dark and gloomy band, hiding in pop clothing. That's how they roll in that part of the world. I haven't been to New Zealand, but I've been to Australia. They're a whole new species.

1. Not "homophobic"...not afraid, just not supportive.

2. Who asserted that SF is a gay hub? It is, but I never suggested linkage as to why the chefs from SF were participating. If 3 or 4 chefs from Dallas were picked, I would say the same thing! Are you suggesting that there is a "Gay Culinary Agenda"? I never did...I am suggesting that Bravo and/or Top Chef has a pro-gay agenda.

You jest about San Francisco I hope. It's a beautiful city, and Drew and I came very close to moving there. We then got this tremendous deal on the townhouse we're in, and stayed here, but I would love to live in San Francisco. I have friends there and we're going to see them for a week in July.

It's also about the same size as D.C., so that would be nice.

Thank you for being honest about the casting--no one else is.

SF is a good food city, but IMO, just not a "culinary hub of the world" (as was asserted earlier).

Point taken on last year---I didn't look up or recall the past bio numbers, although I have watched all four seasons.

And making a point of pointing out that Bravo has a gay friendly status is not homophobic? Disney is gay friendly too. Are they out there spreading their bias? I don't think so.

Thanks for the help! I still wish they'd get the message board up and running in time for the show. oh well....

More quick hits:

That hickey on Erik's neck sure looks weird, doesn't it?

Headline found in Chicago newspaper - "Local Chef Murdered by Soggy Bilini, Cops Puzzled"

Ikea bunk beds - next year's fashion statement.

Hey Andrew - guess what? There's no such thing as balsamic oil. One has to wonder if he hadn't embellished the description whether either Wil-E Coyote or Padma would have noticed the balsamic and reconciled it with the count of ingredients.

I'm thinking that Richard should change the spelling of his last name to Blaze. Then he should devise a superhero's costume to go with it. His superpower could be molecular rearrangement.

This is the weird hat crew. Erik stole his from Elvis Costello. Of course, Nikki stole her glasses from him too. Well, sort of. Spike sleeps with his, which makes him a chapeausexual.

Erik needs some rubberbands in his goat, just like Captain Lou Albano.

Speaking of Cyndi Lauper, apparently in this show, girls just *don't* want to have fun.

Manuel who?

So far, a foamless season.

SimpleBear, take comfort knowing that Mark used and presented fresh anchovies. Not salt-cured or oil-packed things out of a can. Not the salty things that end up on pizzas or in salads.

The difference between the fresh anchovy and the salty cured ones is probably greater than the difference between fresh tuna and canned tuna. Think of the fish as being the tiny cousin to a fresh sardine or fresh mackerel - and Lidia Bastianich swears by both and has them on her menus. A nice fresh fish flavor, a little stronger than most due to the oil content, which Mark knew to cut by adding the acid. It had to be good because there aren't many situations in which American diners would applaud a fresh anchovy.

That's why I love them so much. A hook, the turn of a clever phrase and a lot of melancoly goes a long way with me.

Of course, they were only 1/3rd Kiwi - the third being the guy responsible for most of the music, which I suppose makes it more than 1/3 New Zealander.

Yeah! Not digging that. More than half the epi is back on Chapter one! Ah well... Glad I could help with the time problem. Was a bit annoying to me, too. Hadn't had a problem with it until yesterday and I remember someone else... TNT_Admin... having that problem. I learned from her

1. Are you saying that other networks should promote homosexuality? I thought Top Chef was a cooking-related contestant show, not a show focused onhomosexuality. Sure there have been gays on the show before--but their sexual orientation was never part of the program--that is the difference! That is going to be possible given that gays are 1 in 20 or so in the population. Doesn't mean we should promote it or FOCUS on it. It is not the job of a TV network to promote sexual orientation-straight or gay.

2. What "goofiness between Jennifer and Zoi" have we seen? They announcing in the first five minutes of the program that they were gay. We have watched them cook on different teams and we have seen them laying around the house for 20 seconds. What are you referring to?

3. If you have to seek or find "acceptance" at a message board on a cooking show...enough said. Top Chef should not be about helping gain 'acceptance'--it should be about food!

4. If the couple WAS a "coincidental" thing that would be one thing, but it is NOT...the FIX is IN!

PlayStr8, everyone who goes around uncovering super double secret "pro-gay agendas" somewhere ought to be strapped into a sling (ideally, somewhere in SF) and kept there till they define very specifically what that phrase even means. A pot of rendered duck fat can be left next to the sling just to persuade you this is serious business. What the SousVide is a "pro-gay agenda?"

To be entirely tolerant and accepting of gays and lesbians isn't being
"pro-gay" and it doesn't amount to an agenda. I spend my life in meetings, trust me, I know what an agenda is. That's like saying being tolerant and accepting of Muslims is the same as being "pro-Islam." Or having a "pro-Islamic agenda." If I'm accepting of Mormons, does that make me "pro-Mormon?" Do I have a "pro-Mormon agenda" in my pocket? Or am I just happy to see you?

To recognize that there are lots of gays and lesbians in the culinary world and working as top chefs also isn't "pro-gay". Letting that reality be reflected among Top Chef contestants isn't an agenda.

You haven't been watching Food Network all these years and imagining those folks on that network are all "the same as you," have you?

Don't insult the real Elphaba that way!

Just butting in here (excuse me) how I long for the old days...when you didn't have to worry about offending someone every time you took a breath. I'm about as straight as they come...but, those girls (chefs) are people too...should they be ineligable just because they are gay?

No--that sentence does not even make sense. You are suggesting that pointing out Bravo's gay bias (and it's influence on Top Chef's production team) is a homophobic concern? Come on. I am suggesting that Bravo's obvious gay bias has carried over into impacting what should be a fair and impartial contest---devoid of any concerns or impact related to a contestants sexual orientation. If I were a contestant and it came down to one of the couple packing their knives, I would be very concerned that the producers would rate that in their decision. Time will tell as the season progresses. In the meantime how about keeping your sexual orientation to yourself--it is no one's concern any more than my sexual orientation should be to you.

Now you are going to get some hate mail (not from me)....The two women were and should have been eligible to get on the show as qualified chefs. I am simple wondering IF they were BOTH selected WITHOUT the producers EVER KNOWING THAT THEY were a couple. There being gay and being a couple should NEVER have had ANYTHING to do with being chosen among the 16.

Maybe the Bravo Bleepers hit the vodka themselves?

I had really planned on staying out of this but can't resist the impulse.

What if they were a heterosexual couple? Would you be as upset by this. I don't understand why their being there is a "pro-gay agenda". Yes, they probably let them both stay or knew from the beginning to add to the drama, just to "see what happens", but the coincidence of their homosexuality should have nothing to do with any of that.

Agree/disagree as far as homosexuality is your choice, but in fashion, food, and the arts (which is what Bravo is all about) there is a higher percentage of gays. If you don't like it, why do you watch?

{{{{{{jumping off the soapbox and hitting the igsnore button}}}}}

Why should I get any hate mail? I don't have anything against gay people or straight people...I just want to see the contest. I do not care who they picked. I watch BRAVO all the time.

That is so funny!! I really have no idea--and I really don't care if they are or are not--it doesn't have anything to do with food and it is a personal issue. If it were something that needed to be discussed I am sure that Bobby or Anthony or Andrew would discuss it.

Well I don't see what the fuss is about, having a couple chosen. One, it's just BRAVO, and BRAVO reaches for drama, into places it often shouldn't reach. But what possible difference is it going to make to the competition itself?

And besides... they're not the first couple to compete together. Hung and his Monkey competed together as a couple last season. As did Brian Malarkey and his Multiple Personalities. Throughout Season One, Stephen was there coupled with his Inner Sommelier, with whom we know he had a sexual thing going on...

Amen on the pronunciation. Drives me even nutser than I am (please don't correct my made-up word).

Said PlayStr8.

Sorry, couldn't resist...

For calling them "girls" and for even remotely suggesting ineligibility for being gay. The activist community will jump on your back and pummel you for not being as leftist as their are. I was being fascious (not to be confused with fascist ).

I just enjoy watching your dancing kitteh... and I'm a dog person... I don't have anything against kittehs... they show 'em both on Animal Planet

I would be dishonest if I said that I have had fresh anchovies, because I haven't, so maybe I should give them a try.

I will say that I just don't care for the look of fish skin, though. I had a piece that was improperly scaled and it's made me a little shy when I see the skin. My problem.