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December 13, 2006: Mia's Meltdown
First of all, they showed Mia a lot in this episode, so it pretty much seemed like she was the one who would go; I just didn't think she'd go the way she did. I really, really don't like it when reality-TV contestants quit (unless it's for something that happens in their personal lives). I just don't. So, Mia's departure was very unsatisfactory. I just like it when things play out like they're supposed to play out. And I don't think Elia should have gone home, either, but if that's what was supposed to happen, then it should have happened. Mia's the second Top Chef contestant this season to take the decision out of the judges' hands, and that's just crazy to me. It makes me think of all those chefs who wanted to be on the show and would never have quit.
The Quickfire challenge: create an original Bailey's cocktail along with a small snack
Winner: Cliff
Guest judge: Kristin Howard, award-winning mixologist
Am I the only one that thought that this mixologist was way too blunt? She made me feel sorry for Betty, and that's not easy to do these days. The first thing I thought of when I heard about this challenge was that this has got to be right up Mike's alley. And sure enough, Mike said he had tons and tons of bartending experience, so there you go. And he did come through: His "Tasty Lacy" drink, plus the cherry ice-cream sandwich, looked delicious. It did seem like the chefs were trying to come up with fancy-shmancy dishes and drinks when all Ms. Howard would have been happy with would have been Bailey's on the rocks and a mini-cheeseburger. So it's not surprising that she chose Cliff's concoction (Bailey's, rum, vodka and vanilla bean) and his dish that consisted of grilled beef, crème fraîche fondue, nutmeg and chocolate. She told Mia that her presentation for her drink (Chocolate Mama — does she have to add "Mama" to everything she makes?) was "pretty basic." But she was way harsh with Betty, whose drink was admittedly curdling at the top. The way she said she was afraid of the drink, however: "Maybe it tastes good.... But it doesn't." Ouch. She wasn't impressed with Mia and Betty; on the flip side, she felt Cliff, Sam and Michael definitely impressed, with Cliff getting immunity.
The Elimination challenge: cater a Christmas party for $1,500
Winner: Sam
Substitute judge: Queer Eye's Ted Allen (yay!)
Guest judge: Lee Hefter, executive chef for Spago Beverly Hills
The group of eight are immediately broken up into teams; the Black team is Elia, Cliff, Mike and Mia, and the Orange team is Sam, Marcel, Betty and Ilan.
Of course, one team runs like a well-oiled machine while the other team bumbles and stumbles all over themselves. Color me crazy when I realized that it was the team with both Betty and Marcel that wasn't the troubled group. The Orange team seemingly did everything right. They immediately elected a leader (Sam), then came up with a very ambitious menu. They thought up something like 13 dishes to serve the partygoers — I was very impressed. I agreed with the guest judge: They seemed like they were working with a $5,000 budget.
Watching the Black team was an exercise in frustration. They did everything wrong, from beginning to end. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like they decided their menu first, then, after they shopped for all their ingredients, they elected Elia as their leader. Elia and Cliff seemingly decided that they would go with quality over quantity — why, I have no idea. They wouldn't even listen to Mia. In Mia's defense, she did try to get through to them, but they weren't having it. Eventually she did the wise thing and sucked it up and worked with her team. Four dishes. I still can't get over the fact that they only cooked four dishes. In what world is that acceptable? It doesn't matter that the judges thought that two of their dishes were the best ones out there.... They still didn't have enough to feed the party. Obviously, there was a lot of demand, and they didn't have the supply or the manpower to cover said demand.
My favorite part was when Tom Collichio played a "mixologist" of sorts — he decided to mix things up and stir up a little trouble. After he found out that they were only making four dishes, he then unloaded the fact that the Orange group had come up with 13 dishes: "Do you think that was a mistake?" I don't care what Cliff said, they had to be worried. Their "quality over quantity" shtick was just not the way to go.
It was definitely clear that the Orange team was going to win this challenge, although one firework exploded at the judges' table after they announced the winning team. I know Marcel was just trying to secure the win for him, but when you have a team that blew the other team away, it's the winning leader that's going to get the bulk of the credit. But Marcel just couldn't let it go. What did he think he was going to accomplish by saying that he didn't need leadership? That was just wrong and made him look desperate.
As for the Black team, Cliff had immunity and Mike coasted by once again. It was going to come down to Elia or Mia. As manager, Elia was probably going to be told to pack her knives and go. But Mia threw herself under the bus in order to allow Elia to stay. Boo. Plus, things got really heated between Mia and Cliff. I know Cliff needed to actually listen to other people's opinions, but the yelling was just unnecessary. I see that Mia's passionate, but there's a point where it's just too much.
One more minor thing: the Bravo poll of the week asked people to vote on the sexiest Top Chef wannabe: Sam, Ilan, Elia and Betty. I'm a little upset that Cliff wasn't one of the choices. I'm just saying.... Although I still like Cliff, I'm going to keep an eye on him for the next couple of weeks. He's been letting more and more of his cocky side out every week. Only thing is, he seems to be able to back it up with his culinary talents.
Topics to Discuss:
—What did you think about Mia quitting?
—What did you think of Cliff in this episode? Is he getting too cocky?
—Mia vs Cliff: who was in the right?
—Who do you think the sexiest Top Chef wannabe is?
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Dec 14, 2006 3:37 AM
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I don't think Mia would have won, nor do I think Mike or Betty will win. These people are cooks, not chefs.
I did, however, felt sorry for Mia. Life has given her some hard knocks, and she's done a great job overcoming many of them. I think she was right in what she said to Cliff, but I felt it went way over the top. The reference to race was made too often for my taste. Plus the reference to the male anatomy was uncalled for. If he had referred to her utilizing a name for the female anatomy, he would have probably been called on it.
Elia is very talented and creative, but she needs to step up to the plate and show some leadership skills. Plus, she needs to cook faster.
Cliff is talented, but a bit arrogant. He does need to listen to others. If he would have incorporated some of Mia's and Mike's suggestions, they could have won the challenge. He and Elia need to understand that if you're feeding 200+ people, you need a steady supply of food on the table. Not four empty trays that held tasty food.
Great show. Cried like a baby.
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Dec 14, 2006 7:28 AM
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Why can't these people learn when to keep their mouths shut? First you have Marcel spouting off about how he didn't need leadership and then Cliff, who has immunity, outright lied about Mia not contributing ideas to the team!
As a part-time bartender, I loved the quickfire challenge. Unfortunately, one or two of those drinks looked like regular Bailey staples. I was glad that Mike came through since he is a bartender. I was afraid he would be one of the ones to use a Bailey's recipe.
I couldn't believe it when Elia's team decided to go with just 4 appetizers for a two hour cocktail party and then couldn't keep their trays full. If they were going to go with just four they should have done at least two of them that could have been prepared in advance so they at least had 2 out at all times. Cooking so many on the spot certainly hurt them and it looked to me like Elia was spending way to much time on prep.
I thought maybe Mike would go last night since he was basically a front man like Mia but isn't as talented as her. I think Mia made a big mistake quitting when she did.
It was rather predictable who was going home last night. The minute Mia said she was homesick, I suspected she was going home. As the episode went on, and they showed Mia alot, I knew she was going home. At least the reason she went home (quitting) was a surprise.
When the poll question came up about the sexiest chef my only choice was Sam. I think there were better choices that we could have been able to choose from but maybe they picked who they did to insure the win for Sam.
BTW, do you think Marcel ruined any chance he had of getting any knives from the winner after he spouted off?
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Dec 14, 2006 7:53 AM
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Sorry Tina- Cliff doesn't even come close to Sam (as a matter of fact, none of them do).
Anyway, I am probably the only one- but I thought Mia's comments to Cliff were hysterical. I completely agreed with her and when he made the comment about her being a martyr?..totally uncalled for. I have seen an arrogance in him from the start, but it's growing the farther along he gets in the competition.
I don't get why Mike is still there? Can anyone explain it to me?
If I were Sam, I would have smacked Marcel but I love how they all said "That's just Marcel" after he made his statement, they don't take him seriously at all.
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Dec 14, 2006 9:06 AM
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I want to know who the judges were planning on eliminating. Were they going to send Elia home, or were they sending Mia home anyway?
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Dec 14, 2006 9:14 AM
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Bye-bye Mia, sorry to see you go.
Cliff is definitely off my Christmas list. What a jerk! I would love to know what caused him to treat Mia so badly.
Only four dishes for a party like that was insane. Elia could have gone home, for all I care, or Cliff, if he hadn't had immunity.
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Dec 14, 2006 9:27 AM
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I cant wait for the next episode. Seeing Ilan finally speak up, especially against Jimmy Neutron aka Marcel will be very interesting to see
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Dec 14, 2006 9:31 AM
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Tina, I ABSOLUTELY agree with you... it irks me to no end when people quit these shows. There are SO many people who would have given ANYTHING to be included and you quit? You just give up and go home? I think if you do something like that and there are no adequate reasons involved (illness, injury, death in the family, etc), you should forfeit whatever stipend you are to receive AND possibly have to pay a fine to the show as well.
Maybe they would think twice about throwing away opportunities... or at the least, it would help weed out weak people...
UCIAgal - too funny... he DOES remind me of Jimmy Neutron!
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Dec 14, 2006 10:03 AM
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According to Tom's Blog on the Top Chef website (page 4), Elia was going to be sent home. I personally did not care for Mia and am not sorry to see her go but the Black team's loss was both Elia and Cliff's doing - not planning well or listening to others. Elia should still have been sent packing along with Mia.
Cliff is definitely an arrogant jerk and he has fallen to the bottom of my list (but is still above Marcel and Mike). I don't care how good of a chef you are, you still have to be able to work with, listen to and lead others and neither Elia or Cliff seem to be able to do that very well.
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Dec 14, 2006 10:23 AM
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I Love Cliff. I think he is talented. I think that he wasn't the only one not listening to Mia. Elia especially didn't listen since she was the leader and could have incorporated Mia's ideas if she wanted to. I can understand why the team members might have been choosing to ignore her she really hadn't proven herself as yet and thanks to her wanting to get back home to her family she threw in the towel. What a waste! While I think that Cliff definitely showed some of his arrogance I think part of a talented person is a slight arrogance. So far all of the chefs have made me a little annoyed.
Mia's tirade about her hard life was out of place and should have been saved for her E True Hollywood Story as far as I am concerned.
Sam and Cliff still rule!
P.S. Cliff is the sexiext chef.
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Dec 14, 2006 10:38 AM
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Does anyone know which restaurants do Cliff and Sam work?
Thanks!
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Dec 14, 2006 10:45 AM
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I agree with Angel, I would like to know who the judges would have eliminated.
I also agree that they shouldn't be allowed to quit.
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Dec 14, 2006 10:53 AM
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Cliff is the Executive Chef at Salute! in midtown Manhattan, a few blocks from Grand Central. Last week, my firm held its holiday party at Salute! and Cliff was there. He even posed for a picture with one of my colleagues. He seems like a really nice guy and a true professional. The food at the party was fantastic and there was plenty of it! It seems that Cliff does a great job in a leadership position.
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Dec 14, 2006 12:07 PM
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Did anyone else think they did a poor job of bleeping Mia's defense?
It didn't offend me but I did think "wow, I basically just heard the F word on Bravo!" They bleeped her saying Fudge (only...she didn't say fudge)...
But it's as though they forget to turn the volume of the bleep up (or make it a long bleep)and then they forgot to turn Mia's voice down--because you basically hear both the bleep and fudge.
Hilarious! Why did they even bother trying!?
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Dec 14, 2006 12:14 PM
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thank K!
I'll avoid that restaurant! I can't stand Cliff; even his food is excellent!!
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Dec 14, 2006 12:23 PM
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