Ariane - Top Chef: New York

[babymay]

I thought her making deviled eggs for 6 Geese a Laying, was quite witty.

[buttahfly]

yeah, i am still in shock abt the deviled eggs. i think i've been making them since i was like 8.

green bean casserole is more advanced than that - - - i'm thinking more tuna salad.

I was more stunned that Ariane made a deviled egg for an elimination challenge. What's next week? Green bean casserole?

[Jexter]

I think she had immunity and needed a break. No excuse, but I think deviled eggs were all she could muster under the conditions. Plus, while she and Martha have the same strategy of "keeping it simple", Martha made one distinction Ariane will have to learn... "keep it simple but not too simple."

[ThePinkOtterPop]

I think I made it pretty clear that I was extremely annoyed by Ariane's lack of experience, but I found myself feeling very sorry for her this past episode. Her teammates set her up as the scapegoat, and she became a lamb to the slaughter. Pun intended.

[Shoepie]

She is a chef in every sense of the word. She has a successful restaurant and is far from inexperienced. I like her.

[tinderbox]

I liked her, too. I didn't think she had the skills to win but, IMO, she didn't deserve to leave this week and I don't think she would have if the new judge hadn't made his comment about judging each week's dishes on their own. Remember, Padma was saying how Ariane had prepared some lovely dishes earlier in the season but the new judge jumped all over that comment and I think that's what sent her home.

[CCL]

Honestly, I think it was the lack of butchering skills that did her in. Though (as others have pointed out) it can be questioned whether butchering skills are truly needed the judges seemed to think such knowledge was key. Tom, for one, seemed particularly concerned with her lack of such skills (then again, Leah, who has supposedly tied meat on a regular basis, didn't do a great job but they didn't seem to focus on her to the same degree). I don't think they were judging on past work because, if you look at the past weeks, Ariane has been praised on a number of occasions, and so has Leah. I don't recall Hosea getting the same number of compliments. So, if you consider that, Hosea might have been the one sent home instead.
Overall, I did end up liking Ariane, though I didn't see her as the winner (not creative enough). I do hope her restaurant in Jersey gets lots of extra traffic as a result of the show, and that she does well in the future.

[CrossingGuard]

I was rooting for Ariane, so I was disappointed when she was eliminated. But ultimately, she was never going to win. Although she emerged as one of the front-runners by winning a couple of QFs and elimination challenges, she didn't win them for creative or out-of-the-box dishes. She went the safe route, and I knew the judges were going to hold that against her one day.

Oh well, when it comes to picking favorites on reality shows, you win with some, you lose with some (although in my case, I feel it's "you win with a few, you lose with a lot" ). I still got Carla to root for, although I feel that she has a slim chance of winning. I can see her making the final though. There's Fabio, but he's been declining in my books. As the weeks have passed, he's become boring, both with his food and his personality, IMO. And there's Jaime, who has been growing on me inch by inch, and I actually feel she has a strong chance of taking the whole thing.

[babymay]

I was rooting for Ariane, so I was disappointed when she was eliminated. But ultimately, she was never going to win. Although she emerged as one of the front-runners by winning a couple of QFs and elimination challenges, she didn't win them for creative or out-of-the-box dishes. She went the safe route, and I knew the judges were going to hold that against her one day.

I always thought that the judges just want to eat good food. Even Martha Stewart said to keep it simple but not too simple. I think that defines Ariane's style.

There are often winning dishes on this show that just do not sound good to me because there is so much going on.

[babymay]

I am watching Iron Chef America and Ariane is one of the challengers sous chefs. Boby Flay is the Iron Chef and the secret ingredient is King Crab.