stories : Top Chef
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CHOW’s “Top Chef” Round TableLooking back on the second season |
CHOW’s Top Chef interviewers Joyce Slaton and Meredith Arthur talk to CHOW food editor Regan Burns and Television Without Pity recapper Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic about the winners, the losers, and Padma’s short shorts. Dirt is dished and controversies examined.
Listen to all of CHOW’s Top Chef second season podcasts:
Ilan Hall
Marcel Vigneron
Sam Talbot and Elia Aboumrad
Cliff Crooks
Michael Midgley
Betty Fraser
Mia Gaines
Frank Terzoli
Carlos Fernandez
Marisa Churchill and Josie Smith-Malave
Emily Sprissler
Otto Borsich
Suyai Steinhauer and Judge Tom Colicchio
Marcel should have won. You are so right about the judges. Marcel said all along that it was suppose to be about the food. Ilan in my book should never have won, he is too much a jerk to really be a top chef. I think Marcel will always be top chef in my book and probably with a lot of viewers. He will go far in his career.
Good to hear what they thought of the season, and they think like most of us, that Marcel wasn't that bad and didn't deserve all the hate, and that Ilan,Elia, Betty was rotten to Marcel , and that people got sick of it. I wish they would of choose marcel for top chef not Ilan, he isn't top chef material, and he put shame on it ,the show, and slamming Harold was so wrong. And I heard that Ilan won't let people on his top-space web page because he knows people will want to voice their opinions on him, is this how a top chef should be, Harold you are such a class act and now a fool is the top chef. go figure!
I absolutely love Marcel and he is the winner no doubt. Ilan is a blip on the radar screen and will soon be forgotten. Marcel has star quality. Top Chef has done this for Marcel-allowed us all to know of him. I could watch Marcel everyday. And that Hair! Delicious! And those Eyes!
I do not wish to read any of the interviews from the people who behaved so badly. Poison.
I live in Las Vegas and plan to be a patron of In the Mansion MGM.
Let's have more Marcel!
BTW I won't be watching anymore Bravo Top competitions. I can't stomach what they did.
i agree witht he downfall of top chef. making ilan the top chef was the last straw for me.he did not desrve to be in the top 5 and shoudl ahve been kicked out when cliff was, since ilan was the main isntigator and the most immature of all the competitors. he is openly malicious towards marcel where marcel is just trying to cook and win. also ilans food is really not up to par with marcel or sam or cliff. shame on you bravo, i am done with this show.
top shef was good only on season 1
Sam's the man - HANDS DOWN. If I were to go onto this website looking for recipes, I would go to Sam's before Marcel or Ilan. He was creative all throughout the competition and he added his own style to his dishes. He definitely knew how to lead a team and he's HUMBLE. He should have won, but he doesn't need this show to be successful. I know that Sam has a bright career ahead of him with or without Top Chef.
You are kidding about Marecel, aren't you? He was a cancer on every team he was a part of, whether as team leader or member.
He would be a terrible employee.
I miss Marcel!
Let's not forget that Padma not only had a star turn on Star Trek, but one in Glitter as well. http://www.lakshmifilms.com/padma_lak...
i'm in awe of padma.
anyway, i don't understand why people are so enraged over this season's turmoil. when someone pushes your buttons, they just push your buttons. when so much is at stake, they will likely drive you even more crazy. everyone is passing so much judgement on ilan, elia, sam etc... they are human beings! i don't know anyone who wouldn't be irritated with a peer claiming to know more about the field than they do. i do feel bad for marcel but none of this calls for so much RAGE and judgement on the part of any of you. i've met people like marcel and even i have caved in. human error never calls for so much rage. all this discussion and insensitivity just grosses me out.
I wasn't that impressed with Casa Mono in NY. Which Ilan was a line cook before. meh.
I doubt any of their food was really all that good??
Does anyone know when Top Chef's Season 2 will be aired in Canada? I'm still stuck on Season 1 reruns. I know one episode at least was aired on my regional NBC broadcaster, but I haven't been able to trace any more eps. I'm on Illico and I have Life, Food, HGTV. The Food Network is running Season One and I suppose will buy Season 2, but WHEN? I hate knowing the winner before I've seen the episodes, which happened to me for Seasons 1 AND 2 of Project Runway.
Ilan deserved to win; between him and Marcel, he has the all around tools to run a kitchen. Creating food that comes out of a kitchen in turmoil will reflect on every part of the dish. If contestants on that show developed a layer of angst against Marcel, wouldn't there be a reason for it? Group dynamics will get you far in any situation and Ilan showed he could play the game better than Marcel.
I'd love to find out where Ilan is cooking these days and will patronize and recommend his food to anyone. Of course, this is one person's opinion.
this is for DonutBoy posted on feb 15, for your information what Ilan made of top chef was copy all the recipes where he worked. All the dishes he made in every challenge including the finale I already aet in a spanish rest. in Puerto Rico, San Juan. And you think he is creator . For my opinios he is a TOP COPY RECIPES and a JERK. In my book Marcel is the TOP CHEF he is a creator.
His recipes may not have been completely original but isn't simplicity much more complicated to perfect? If you can create the basics well, why can't you be a top chef? The judges seemed to think his food was good enough since he won several challenges and the final. I've eaten in several Spanish restaurants in several countries and I've hardly come across copies of Ilan's food. Send me the info on the restaurant you went to, I'd love to try the food and see how much Ilan copied the recipe.
come to Puerto Rico and I show you DonutBoy.
Mira, I on my way!
no me digas . DonutBoy asi que hablas español. pues cuando quieras ven a Puerto Rico te espero. Yo misma te llevare.
se~nor,
can we please keep this in english on this website? i'm sure there are sites you may communicate in your spanish +.
thank you
I think Marcel should have won because he was creative and incorporated many different cuisines, but it's all just a show. Both chefs made great food, and they both had their downfalls; however, they're just human, right?
I have NEVER watched a reality show before, but I got seriously hooked on Top Chef season 2. I have to admit, I didn't care at all for Marcel, but was fascinated by the process, eliminations, etc.
Frankly, Ilan's win...well, whatever. I just really enjoyed watching these great cooks under pressure.
I still miss Marcel. You have to admit this was the most exciting Top Chef ever. I bet you that Marcel will have his own show before to long. We can't let talent like that go away.
Top Chef Season 2 was more interesting than Season 1 because of the "Marcel Conflict", but I think it was really for drama and whatever...Marcel really is a great chef; however, that is not to say that Ilan is not. Both of them are great chefs, I just thought that Marcel should have won because he seemed a little better in the kitchen. Meh...it was just an entertaining show =).
Season 1 was so much better! LA = drama. SF = food. Simple solution... send Top Chef back to San Francisco for higher quality shows that focus more on the food and less on the personality conflicts. (not that SF didn't have back biting drama... it just didn't seem as vicious or take as much air time.)
Part of being a chef, and especially a top chef, is the ability to work on, and even more importantly, lead a team. While I think Marcel was far more creative, and the bigger risk taker, and even, possibly, had the better food, his problem was that he simply couldn't run a kitchen. That was made clear by the comments from his teammates in the final challenge. He's very good at organizing himself, but hasnt learned how to communicate what he wants done to his fellow chefs. In the long run, with some maturity, and probably a few knockdowns in his career, I'd bet he'll turn out to be the better chef. For the moment though, even though he played things very safe and didn't show much range of cooking ability, and even though he clearly has a bit of a petty streak, Ilan was simply better at turning out a consistent product and working with his teammates.
I disliked Ilan even more than Marcel. He was just a self important jerk. At least Marcel was straight with his motivations. He kind of blew it himself as if he had just been nice, people would have been more invested in helping him win.
I wish Marcel would have won. He did make some very interesting food. I also have to give him credit to turning me on to molecluar gastronomy. Since then I have had a meal which made incredible use of it (foie gras dipping dots & foie gras powder - 2 of a foie quartet) and now I'm obsessed. Take a look at the websites for Moto and Alinea if you're interested.
I think Marcel's final blunder was in picking Mike to be on his team. You could tell Mike didn't care if he won. He was actually very happy Ilan won in the end. If Marcel had picked Mia, I think he might have pulled it off as she did want to help him. I thought Sam was cool for offering to help & then coming up with that save when they forgot the fish in the cooler.
As a general comment-- I think that it is pretty naive to try and judge anyone's character after watching them on a HEAVILY edited TV show for a few months. While Ilan might not have come across as a saint to sit here and try to make broad generalizations about who he is (ie. "just a self important jerk) is absurd. Talk about the cooking, as it was a cooking show afterall. If you don't think he deserved to win based on that-- fine. Otherwise, try and reserve judgments such as those for people you ACTUALLY know, not someone you think you know because you saw them on TV a couple times.
And as a side note, should you ever get a chance to get to know him you would understand just how misinformed (and nasty) these comments are...
More nasty and worse is Ilan. I don't think he is a Top Chef, He was playing save all the time. Copied the recipes were he was working. If you want to eat what he made , you can go in any spanish rest. I already did.
And as a side note should you ever get a chance to get to know Marcel.