Anyone following the current Top Chef saga? SPOILERS

[BlondeSpiders]

I was really bummed to hear the news about Gabe. I guess I bought into the carefully-edited good guy persona the show curated. How fricking hard is it to keep it in your pants?


jezebel.com/top-chefs-feel-good-season-collapses-on-itself-1847232954


I would have been thrilled for either Shota or Dawn to win, but I knew Dawn would not, with missing plate ingredients AGAIN. 

[Velar Fricative]

Whoa, I missed all of this! I wanted Shota or Dawn too but I knew Gabe would win, but I liked him too. Not so much now.

[pixy0stix]

I haven't watched the final episode yet, but it was clear that he was going to win. What an asshole. Hopefully he won't show up in any of the all star seasons.

[Vespasia]

I thought this was going to be about Edouardo Jordan being edited out because of his own allegations of abuse. I guess it's not surprising that there was more than one slimy man on set.

[laladypoet]

I absolutely hated Gabe. I loved Shota and thought he would win. Dawn's food is the food I most want to eat.

[morecoffeeplease]

I listen to the podcast watch what crappens and they talked about his firing almost every episode. They noted that in the restaurant wars challenge Gabe didn't take responsibility for the role he played which made them lose. All season they've been talking about what a jerk they thought he was. And it turns out he was fired for something awful. It sucks because Shota (and Dawn but I knew she wouldn't win when she forgot something) was so deserving and seems like a genuine person.

[pumpkin]

I was so disappointed to hear about this. I was hoping Shota or Dawn would win, though Dawn was her own worst enemy throughout.

I’d love to see Shota open a new restaurant since he was local and I’d love to check it out.

[rupertpenny]

Gabe's food often looked delicious, but his "aw, shucks, little ol' me?" schtick was annoying. I feel bad for Maria. It was clear she really believed in him and wanted him to win and I bet this was disappointing to her, to say the least. Dawn's food was my favorite and I loved Shota despite the fact I'm not really into Japanese flavors or techniques.

[Deleted]

I really wanted either Shota or Dawn as well but I knew she would forget something. It was just her pattern. I hate that he won all that money and he's such a douche when Dawn or Shota could have done so much more good with it.

[BlondeSpiders]

Jul 6, 2021 15:15:42 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Gabe's food often looked delicious, but his "aw, shucks, little ol' me?" schtick was annoying. I feel bad for Maria. It was clear she really believed in him and wanted him to win and I bet this was disappointing to her, to say the least. Dawn's food was my favorite and I loved Shota despite the fact I'm not really into Japanese flavors or techniques.

That's funny, because that was my first thought, how betrayed Maria must feel. She was his biggest fan and really contributed to his win.

[morecoffeeplease]

Jul 6, 2021 15:15:42 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Gabe's food often looked delicious, but his "aw, shucks, little ol' me?" schtick was annoying. I feel bad for Maria. It was clear she really believed in him and wanted him to win and I bet this was disappointing to her, to say the least. Dawn's food was my favorite and I loved Shota despite the fact I'm not really into Japanese flavors or techniques.

I felt like Sara did the awe shucks thing too which made me not like her

[BlondeSpiders]

Jul 6, 2021 15:00:10 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

I was so disappointed to hear about this. I was hoping Shota or Dawn would win, though Dawn was her own worst enemy throughout.

I’d love to see Shota open a new restaurant since he was local and I’d love to check it out.

He did open a place called Taku, in Capitol Hill last year, but it reopened to take-out only on May 5th 2021. The new focus is fried chicken.


seattle.eater.com/2021/4/19/22391453/taku-capitol-hill-reopens-may-5-karaage-fried-chicken

[pumpkin]

Jul 6, 2021 15:50:29 GMT -5 BlondeSpiders said:

Jul 6, 2021 15:00:10 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

I was so disappointed to hear about this. I was hoping Shota or Dawn would win, though Dawn was her own worst enemy throughout.

I’d love to see Shota open a new restaurant since he was local and I’d love to check it out.

He did open a place called Taku, in Capitol Hill last year, but it reopened to take-out only on May 5th 2021. The new focus is fried chicken.


seattle.eater.com/2021/4/19/22391453/taku-capitol-hill-reopens-may-5-karaage-fried-chicken

Interesting. Thanks!

[shamrockshake]

I was so pissed he won but could totally see it coming. I would have been thrilled with Dawn or Shota, I loved them both. I was so mad when Dawn left stuff off the plate again! My husband didn’t understand my dislike of Gabe, now I feel vindicated.

[basilosaurus]

I've followed it all (wtf else do I have to do?!) I'm zero surprised. At least they trashed John Besh. But they need to keep going.

I know Padma has been pretty open, but Collicchio nEEDS to say the same. I never particularly liked him, but it's his platform.

And, need I say it? Fuck all the men who abuse women and who turn a blind eye. I'm nearly to fuck all with a penis, but I know that's not fair.

[Jalapeñomel]

I liked Gabe, what a disappointment.

I was bummed to see Shota lose, and I thought Dawn had no business being in the finale with her misplating over and ocer again (and the whole thing with restaurant wars).

[AJL]

I'm disappointed, too, about this news re: Gabe. He's a hometown boy and this kind of sucks (especially since we also had the Paul Qui bullshit.)

On the other hand, I'm not surprised. The culinary world seems very toxic. I have many friends are are chefs and bartenders here in Austin and the stories they tell are just so angry-making. I don't know what the solution is in the Gabe situation, though. If the producers knew about his behavior before the season aired, I think they should have done something about it.

[BlondeSpiders]

Jul 6, 2021 17:44:10 GMT -5 AJL said:

I'm disappointed, too, about this news re: Gabe. He's a hometown boy and this kind of sucks (especially since we also had the Paul Qui bullshit.)

On the other hand, I'm not surprised. The culinary world seems very toxic. I have many friends are are chefs and bartenders here in Austin and the stories they tell are just so angry-making. I don't know what the solution is in the Gabe situation, though. If the producers knew about his behavior before the season aired, I think they should have done something about it.

I'm afraid to ask, but what happened with Paul?

You're not wrong, btw. Most of the culinary world is toxic AF. It's so common for people to hook up in close environments like this, and when you add substance abuse (more common than you think in the kitchen) it makes it all so much worse.

I will never forget what happened when I confronted a scummy guy in my kitchen about smacking my ass. He heard I "liked that," so it should be ok, right? When I told him it wasn't, the atmosphere got so much worse. If he came within 12 inches of me (hard not to, in a kitchen) he would jerk away dramatically, saying loudly, "don't touch Brittany! She doesn't like that!" Every. Fucking. Time. This was in '03, so before a lot of mandatory sexual harassment policies were in place. In the end, I wished I'd never said anything, so I guess he won.

I'm fairly certain 95% of those reading this can identify with this bullshit and are silently raging.

[AJL]

Jul 6, 2021 19:35:57 GMT -5 BlondeSpiders said:

Jul 6, 2021 17:44:10 GMT -5 AJL said:

I'm disappointed, too, about this news re: Gabe. He's a hometown boy and this kind of sucks (especially since we also had the Paul Qui bullshit.)

On the other hand, I'm not surprised. The culinary world seems very toxic. I have many friends are are chefs and bartenders here in Austin and the stories they tell are just so angry-making. I don't know what the solution is in the Gabe situation, though. If the producers knew about his behavior before the season aired, I think they should have done something about it.

I'm afraid to ask, but what happened with Paul?

Domestic assault against his girlfriend in 2016

[basilosaurus]

I also thought Gabe had no business in the finale. Raw tortilla should have made him gone before. Sure, his finale might have edged out Shota, I'm not there to know, but he didn't deserve the spot to begin with. Shota for all stars!

And I know my views on reality tv don't belong here but rather in the thread on ML, but I do think it might be CEP related if I remove my tin foil hat.

I've also unfortunately seen people saying he's not really Mexican because he's white. So there's that element.

It's all so damn messy. They edited it out Pete for his racist misogynist posts, but they award someone with so many claims against him? And you know Andy doesn't give a shit. He didn't call the bru cru out on their violent anti-women tirades.

Please, lockdown, end! It's not good for my mental health to watch these awful people! At least I've stayed away from 90df?

[AJL]

Jul 6, 2021 20:23:26 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I also thought Gabe had no business in the finale. Raw tortilla should have made him gone before. Sure, his finale might have edged out Shota, I'm not there to know, but he didn't deserve the spot to begin with. Shota for all stars!

And I know my views on reality tv don't belong here but rather in the thread on ML, but I do think it might be CEP related if I remove my tin foil hat.

I've also unfortunately seen people saying he's not really Mexican because he's white. So there's that element.

It's all so damn messy. They edited it out Pete for his racist misogynist posts, but they award someone with so many claims against him? And you know Andy doesn't give a shit. He didn't call the bru cru out on their violent anti-women tirades.

Please, lockdown, end! It's not good for my mental health to watch these awful people! At least I've stayed away from 90df?

This is such a disgusting statement (not directed at you.) 

[basilosaurus]

Jul 6, 2021 20:56:03 GMT -5 AJL said:

Jul 6, 2021 20:23:26 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I also thought Gabe had no business in the finale. Raw tortilla should have made him gone before. Sure, his finale might have edged out Shota, I'm not there to know, but he didn't deserve the spot to begin with. Shota for all stars!

And I know my views on reality tv don't belong here but rather in the thread on ML, but I do think it might be CEP related if I remove my tin foil hat.

I've also unfortunately seen people saying he's not really Mexican because he's white. So there's that element.

It's all so damn messy. They edited it out Pete for his racist misogynist posts, but they award someone with so many claims against him? And you know Andy doesn't give a shit. He didn't call the bru cru out on their violent anti-women tirades.

Please, lockdown, end! It's not good for my mental health to watch these awful people! At least I've stayed away from 90df?

This is such a disgusting statement (not directed at you.) 

Yeah, I was actually thinking of you. Not Mexican because Jewish. Not Jewish because Mexican. Gah. I can't begin to understand how awful it must feel. I'm only reporting what I've seen. If it hurts to repeat it, I'll delete, but I say this because I think people don't actually know these statements actually exist.

[laladypoet]

Jul 6, 2021 14:53:13 GMT -5 morecoffeeplease said:

I listen to the podcast watch what crappens and they talked about his firing almost every episode. They noted that in the restaurant wars challenge Gabe didn't take responsibility for the role he played which made them lose. All season they've been talking about what a jerk they thought he was. And it turns out he was fired for something awful. It sucks because Shota (and Dawn but I knew she wouldn't win when she forgot something) was so deserving and seems like a genuine person.

"did you MEAN to mention Ben and Ronnie?" haha love them

[morecoffeeplease]

Jul 7, 2021 11:01:23 GMT -5 laladypoet said:

Jul 6, 2021 14:53:13 GMT -5 morecoffeeplease said:

I listen to the podcast watch what crappens and they talked about his firing almost every episode. They noted that in the restaurant wars challenge Gabe didn't take responsibility for the role he played which made them lose. All season they've been talking about what a jerk they thought he was. And it turns out he was fired for something awful. It sucks because Shota (and Dawn but I knew she wouldn't win when she forgot something) was so deserving and seems like a genuine person.

"did you MEAN to mention Ben and Ronnie?" haha love them

They sure did call it from the beginning!!!

[msmerymac]

DAMN! Top Chef is my favorite show. I've been watching some old seasons as a comfort binge during the pandemic - my favorite is season 6, with the Voltaggio brothers and Kevin Gillespie (no one tell me anything bad about Kevin Gillespie!), but I've also watched season 4 with Stephanie Izard (and Richard Blais, and Antonia Lofaso), and most recently, season 7. Oh my god, what a shitshow that was. Every single dude on that season was a raging sexist and/or racist, they all hated each other, they all tried to sabotage each other (they were constantly yelling about overs being changed and it was the season with the infamous pea puree incident). Oh, I also rewatched season 11 since I love Shirley and Nina so so much and was so angry they chose a mediocre white man over them both, which I don't think would have happened today.

Anyway, a lot of people have pointed out that they no longer highlight the drama, like having the person-you-love-to-hate who stays on well past their time. They take care to highlight foods that are outside of the traditional French classical/haute cuisine style, and you don't see racism and sexism play out the way you used to. So for that reason (and others, all the reasons) I'm really pissed about this.

I was hoping for Shota almost the whole time. I loved Dawn, but I thought Shota and Gabe were both better chefs. Also thought Sarah would go further than she did, and I thought Maria was good. Anyway, during the finale, I thought that the person I wanted to win the least was Gabe, but just because I liked Shota and Dawn more - it's not like I was going to be mad about it the way I was when Nick Elmi won. Or Kelsey in the Kentucky season. Did anyone like her?!

[msmerymac]

I can definitely see both Dawn and Shota returning for future seasons and Shota pulling a Brooke Williamson. I think Dawn will definitely be concentrating on clock management before she comes back, but then she'll be a force, for sure.

[Gwen]

I just got back into Top Chef this season. I missed some “You donkey!” insults.

Too bad. I guess I came back too soon.

[Poeticxpassion]

Gwen, isn’t that from Hell’s Kitchen?

[Gwen]

Jul 7, 2021 19:41:26 GMT -5 Poeticxpassion said:

Gwen, isn’t that from Hell’s Kitchen?

Oh, gosh. I’ll let myself out.

[morecoffeeplease]

Jul 8, 2021 4:42:13 GMT -5 Gwen said:

Jul 7, 2021 19:41:26 GMT -5 Poeticxpassion said:

Gwen, isn’t that from Hell’s Kitchen?

Oh, gosh. I’ll let myself out.

This made me laugh!