Top Chef Seattle 11/28 Show Discussion **Spoilers**

This was a pretty dull challenge. Who wants to eat/watch a remake of 50's food?

I think John will stick around because he has mad skill, unfortunately. Tom did have reservations about his ability to run a kitchen due to his attitude. That will certainly rear its head in restaurant wars, if not before.

I can see Kristin being in the finals. She is emerging as someone with skill, composure and maturity. And she is adorable!

And who does not know how to make French Onion soup?! It always has a top of melted cheese, always. That is what makes the dish.

Yes, it must have melted stringy cheese! Otherwise it is flat and soggy.

I did like that they had to re-create an outdated menu, not only for nostalgia sake, but because the sauces and spices used were different at that time - pre Julia Child. My childhood comfort food is from that time so I guess I'm biased. ;)

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Originally Posted by Arielflies

Yes, it must have melted stringy cheese! Otherwise it is flat and soggy.

I did like that they had to re-create an outdated menu, not only for nostalgia sake, but because the sauces and spices used were different at that time - pre Julia Child. My childhood comfort food is from that time so I guess I'm biased. ;)

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I watch this show for new food. I get the nostalgia part but none of these filled that bill for me. Crab cocktail and steak do not trigger that response. :) I still make onion soup on occasion. That is nostalgic for my kids.

Not only did Chrissy have the job of making the ONLY dish still on the menu and the restaurant's signature salad at that, but it's the only dish that the current owners (and others) have actually tasted and therefore knew what they were looking for. Okay, so the 2012 salad has mint and lemon...but how much? Chrissy had no clue as she had never had it. Contrast that to everyone else's dishes that they could tweak a bit or make slightly different than the 1950's version and no one would ever know. It's not like Grandma was there saying "that's not how it tasted back in 1952..." However, I will say that whatever salad she made for whatever challange- THAT salad was overdressed for any occasion- current or past or anywhere in between.

I agree the salad was overly dressed. Had she not done that and come close to the taste I don't think she would have gone. The salad should have been eliminated from their choices or she should have been given a taste to make it a even playing field. Everyone else knew the taste of what they were preparing; they had eaten it many times!

I don't think she should have went home for an over-dressed salad, and I don't think Carla should have went home for squab that she didn't personally cook. Padma said that she loved Carla's sauce for the squab but didn't like how it was over-cooked. Since they were being sent back all night for being under-cooked, the grill guys adjusted and over-cooked them. It doesn't seem right for her to go home for it. In my opinion, CJ's mistake with souvee-ing the meat was ridiculous. Why in the world would he do that? As a home cook, I know better. He's been on the show three times, had his shot, he obviously doesn't have what it takes to win this show. And, the french onion soup was ridiculous. We have that soup as a common dish in this decade, so there should be no reason for it to be thick, cold, and have dried bread sitting on top of it. The reason the crouton was rock hard was because the soup didn't have the right consistency. It is supposed to be very brothy for the crouton to soak into it and get soggy, with bubbling cheese on top. The teenager at LaMadeline gets it right, why can't a "top chef"?