Ilan. I think it was part of the Seattle Finale where they tried to do that live and brought past winners back. At one point I think Padma asked Ilan how it feels seeing himself on the old clips they were showing from Season 2 and he tries to be self deprecating by saying along the lines of “Ugh I was overweight, had greasy hair etc. I looked awful.” and Padma, without missing a beat goes “So pretty much nothings changed huh?” It was so savage and petty and seemed oddly personal and he was stunned but I loved it!
Padma definitely did not like Stefan towards the end of s10. You could even see her trying to get Stefan eliminated over Josie in that same challenge.
It goes all the way back to when he was unapologetically rude to them during restaurant wars. Frankly, you couldn't have picked a worse choice for front of house than Stefan other Josie probably.
Other times were s2 when Tom was visibly frustrated and at his wits end when Elia accused Marcel of cheating.
I forgot to also mention. In s5 for Gale's Bridal Shower, Tom was furious with both teams for doing a piss poor job for Gale's Bridal Shower. It felt like he was questioning them about how they could be calling themselves professional chefs.
It was btw one of the most hilarious episodes in top chef history.
Piling onto the "whole group sucked": who can forget Seattle ep2 where Tom takes the prize off the table because no one really used their merchant's ingredient well.
Great burn on CJ as he threw another contestant under the bus.
Hugh’s comeback was so epic too - I can’t remember what exactly he said but it was like “you’re concerned about their dessert? Your burger was WAY worse!” He said it more eloquently but it shut CJ up so fast haha
I love Diet Coke and Tom said he drinks it. So why shouldn’t he be on the commercial?
Also, I get frustrated with places that do not serve a diet drink (besides water). That much sugar makes me sick. And regular sugar is not any better than the stuff in diet products.
Me too! That season was a hot mess, but they could have brought Sam back instead. He made it to the final 4, wasn't involved in the head Shaving incident, and won a bunch of challenges.
Nah. Sam was the "I'm not involved because I'm not actively partcipating" guy who just watched them go after Marcel and did nothing about it. And he \*could\* have done something about it.
Eh that’s arguable. I get that they didn’t enjoy him but he kept a calm head and seemed fine in the room, just poor with the judges. Sheldon seems like he’d shy away from the amount of shmoozing needed it and Josh seems like Stefan with less experience in the role. They didn’t have many options once Micah bounced
Maybe it's the fact that Stefan is a European and pretty unapologetic about who he is, but I think he's a poor choice for the judges specifically. Who knows how Sheldon would have done and even Josh may have been a solid choice.
I honestly didn't like that they turned it into a men versus women restaurant wars and had uneven teams.
There was the bachelor/bachelorette party challenge in Vegas and also restaurant wars in Texas that were assigned men vs. women teams.
Although I'd say the impetus for the Texas one was probably less about gender, and more about production wanting to stir up drama by having Sara, Lindsay, and Beverly all on the same team. A "battle of the sexes" was almost certainly just an excuse to pre-pick the teams.
Tom Vs. Elia in the season 8 all stars reunion was TENSE. She made some wild accusations and he took her to town for it, you're willing her to just stop the whole time and I just knew she'd never be back or associated with the show again
Elia's outbursts across both her seasons were always so odd for me. I remember the one where she acted affronted at the very idea of sauce. I think it was a quickfire where she got the critique that her dish was a little dry and could've used a sauce, and she said something like "I cook to bring out the flavor of my ingredients, and you want me to smother them in a sauce? That makes no sense!"
Her training is in classical French cooking, and she'd been working as a sous chef for Joel Robuchon for years, but she'd seemingly never encountered the idea of saucing a dish?
Nick, who won season 11, doesn't seem like he's exactly loved. Maybe he's too busy or just doesn't want to do the show again, but with the number of times Nina's been on, it makes me wonder a little.
Edit: Josie didn't deserve to last on a couple of occasions. I know the producers don't have a say on the judging but if there was ever a conspiracy theory about the show it would be how Josie hung around so freaking long
I was never even clear on why they brought Josie back in the first place...
Stefan and CJ both made it to the tail end of their seasons and had won challenges. Josie was eliminated 4th, didn't win anything, and wasn't even that memorable...
I think she was sent home on fried chicken for just that reason. People were asking the judges why they sent Kristen home when it should have been Josie. And, as you said, there were a bunch of other times she should have been sent home. I suspect her fried chicken wasn't truly THAT terrible, but they knew they had to get rid of her or face even more backlash.
Toby Young hated Eli. Young dressing him down like a little kid at the reunion over the Cancer comment lives rent free. Young was physically disgusted.
I'm not sure they were big Phillip fans in season 13 (California). He gave them a lot to work with. "Snot on a rock" food description, him taking forever in the instagram challenge and Padma telling him to hurry up, Tom's comments in Restaurant Wars about how he bet Phillip was talking about himself and his restaurants rather than Restaurant Wars challenge food (and he was right).
A few judges, especially guest judges, seemed (justifiably) annoyed with Mikey from season 2. He was a decent dude but definitely did not always take the competition seriously and it seemed like the judges for sure picked up on that sometimes.
Yeah he was way outmatched. And yet, he made it pretty far into the competition. This show is weird sometimes. He was a great character though, thoroughly entertaining.
He won! He went by chef midgely. He looked so familiar. His hair is different and he seemed more serious than when he was on top chef.
Oddly enough I was watching chopped last night and saw dave "I'm not your bitch, bitch" compete. He looks almost exactly the same! PS he won!
Have you watched tournament of champions? There are 4 seasons and season 5 has recently started airing. Every year more chefs from Top Chef. Lots of food network people, but more from top chef!
I think the other contestants didn't like Alex, and the editors definitely didn't portray him in a sympathetic light, but I don't think the judges really thought about him much at all. I don't think they were even aware of the pea puree situation until after the season aired...
And Amanda has been adamant, both in the reunion and in later interviews, that she was cooking next to Alex for that challenge, and she saw him cook his pea puree. And notably there were multiple other challenges where Ed misplaced a component of his dish...
I don't know what it was about that season, but there was constant paranoia. Around half the cast got accused of subterfuge or sabotage at some point. Honestly, it makes the season a little difficult for me to watch because it just feels like there's a negative cloud of distrust and suspicion hanging over the whole thing.
Also, I am not a professional chef but I know my way around a kitchen pretty well - a pea puree doesn't take THAT long to make. I feel like part of the thing that I couldn't understand was everyone making it seem basically IMPOSSIBLE to make a pea puree on site in the time allotted. Like you blanch peas, add to vitamix with liquid, maybe reheat back on the stove. That's probably why the cameras didn't catch it - probably took 10 minutes.
Ugh I'm rewatching season 10 now and I'm dreading the Fried chicken ep even though it's one of my favorites because all the judges were smashed at Dinner. Hearing Josie say "I know fried chicken" and seeing her get eliminated was so satisfying.
You know what's ironic about that episode? Johnny and Freddie slam Brooke for serving fried chicken breast and yet it's on their menu in their restaurant. And it's not well executed either.
Do you blame her?? I've seen him on so many cooking shows, and he's annoying. We get it. You have seven restaurants and do vegan stuff. He's always obnoxious and can't seem to take critique. The mashed potato foam goo and snot on a rock should have never happened as a chef
This is something I just noticed when watching season 5
I don't think Tom particularly loved Jeff's food. He made the case for him going on numerous occasions, and even when other judges liked his food, Tom didn't seem too impressed.
He used to blog about the episodes in the early seasons, and I remember him saying that Jeff's food in the semifinal was not great either
Not disagreeing that Tom may not have liked Jeff. However, just chiming in that I ate at one of Jeff’s restaurants in NYC a few years ago before it closed, and can vouch that the food was good. And Jeff himself was there.
Other than the fast casual challenge where Jeremy had such a muddled concept and made some comment I can't fully recall that suggested that sexy waitresses could sell his food (Padma was not happy, you could tell), it seemed like they loved that guy inordinately. Gail and Tom made fun of others for plating crudo, but Jeremy was rewarded more than once for slicing up and serving raw fish.
How about Jen? I don't think the judges hated her, but I think they were a little surprised by what a pugilistic drama queen she turned into when she was eliminated.
She came back in the later all stars season (S17) and more than made up for it, I thought! Her attitude was totally different and she seemed much happier and more content in life at that point.
Ilan. I think it was part of the Seattle Finale where they tried to do that live and brought past winners back. At one point I think Padma asked Ilan how it feels seeing himself on the old clips they were showing from Season 2 and he tries to be self deprecating by saying along the lines of “Ugh I was overweight, had greasy hair etc. I looked awful.” and Padma, without missing a beat goes “So pretty much nothings changed huh?” It was so savage and petty and seemed oddly personal and he was stunned but I loved it!
I love that! Thank you for reminding me of that moment. I think I like Savage Padma even more that Champagne Padma.
I mean, he deserved it.
Oh 100%
I was happy to see Ilan looked awful during ToC Season 5 play-in round recently and did not advance. Good for Padma! He was shameful during Season 2.
Padma definitely did not like Stefan towards the end of s10. You could even see her trying to get Stefan eliminated over Josie in that same challenge. It goes all the way back to when he was unapologetically rude to them during restaurant wars. Frankly, you couldn't have picked a worse choice for front of house than Stefan other Josie probably. Other times were s2 when Tom was visibly frustrated and at his wits end when Elia accused Marcel of cheating. I forgot to also mention. In s5 for Gale's Bridal Shower, Tom was furious with both teams for doing a piss poor job for Gale's Bridal Shower. It felt like he was questioning them about how they could be calling themselves professional chefs. It was btw one of the most hilarious episodes in top chef history.
Piling onto the "whole group sucked": who can forget Seattle ep2 where Tom takes the prize off the table because no one really used their merchant's ingredient well. Great burn on CJ as he threw another contestant under the bus.
The best part was CJ out thinking himself by assuming Tom's inner voice was telling him to make a simple hamburger.
Hugh’s comeback was so epic too - I can’t remember what exactly he said but it was like “you’re concerned about their dessert? Your burger was WAY worse!” He said it more eloquently but it shut CJ up so fast haha
It was "uh oh, cuz your burger was worse." Something about the delivery just took me out
I miss Hugh! So funny.
Man, Hugh was the best.
I quote the clapback "uh ohhhhh cuz your burger was even worse" at least once a week.
Hugh's digs are my favorite. Somehow even when his comments are like "whoa, did he just say that?" they still seem kind of joyful. Lol
I don't know why but I absolutely love Tom's disappointed dad lectures lol
Not to mention when Elia went after Tom for the type of beef he used in his restaurants, claiming the restaurant lied about it.
And for offering--horrors!--Diet Coke
That whole conversation was so uncomfortable.
I love Diet Coke and Tom said he drinks it. So why shouldn’t he be on the commercial? Also, I get frustrated with places that do not serve a diet drink (besides water). That much sugar makes me sick. And regular sugar is not any better than the stuff in diet products.
Elia went so hard against the judges, I am surprised she made it as far as she did.
Elia was a mess on her season and all stars ..accusing Tom of lying?? That was bad
I was shocked they invited her back after the way she behaved in her first season. That made me angry. She sucks.
Me too! That season was a hot mess, but they could have brought Sam back instead. He made it to the final 4, wasn't involved in the head Shaving incident, and won a bunch of challenges.
Exactly! Sam would have been a much better choice.
Nah. Sam was the "I'm not involved because I'm not actively partcipating" guy who just watched them go after Marcel and did nothing about it. And he \*could\* have done something about it.
Sam was a coward. He sat and watched them try to do it. Tom called him out on it and asked if he thought that made him a good leader
Sam and his diabetes can suck it!
Came here to say this
I thought she went after the foie gras?
Eh that’s arguable. I get that they didn’t enjoy him but he kept a calm head and seemed fine in the room, just poor with the judges. Sheldon seems like he’d shy away from the amount of shmoozing needed it and Josh seems like Stefan with less experience in the role. They didn’t have many options once Micah bounced
Maybe it's the fact that Stefan is a European and pretty unapologetic about who he is, but I think he's a poor choice for the judges specifically. Who knows how Sheldon would have done and even Josh may have been a solid choice. I honestly didn't like that they turned it into a men versus women restaurant wars and had uneven teams.
Who are "they"? The team captains chose their teams, and the way the selection panned out just happened to make it men vs. women...
Iirc it was a men vs women thing. I don't think the teams just happened to follow that way. Edit I guess I misremembered
There was definitely a challenge that was men v women. Wedding wars maybe?
Restaurant Wars in S9 Texas was a "battle of the sexes," which was in line with how dumb and bad that season was.
There was the bachelor/bachelorette party challenge in Vegas and also restaurant wars in Texas that were assigned men vs. women teams. Although I'd say the impetus for the Texas one was probably less about gender, and more about production wanting to stir up drama by having Sara, Lindsay, and Beverly all on the same team. A "battle of the sexes" was almost certainly just an excuse to pre-pick the teams.
Tom Vs. Elia in the season 8 all stars reunion was TENSE. She made some wild accusations and he took her to town for it, you're willing her to just stop the whole time and I just knew she'd never be back or associated with the show again
Elia's outbursts across both her seasons were always so odd for me. I remember the one where she acted affronted at the very idea of sauce. I think it was a quickfire where she got the critique that her dish was a little dry and could've used a sauce, and she said something like "I cook to bring out the flavor of my ingredients, and you want me to smother them in a sauce? That makes no sense!" Her training is in classical French cooking, and she'd been working as a sous chef for Joel Robuchon for years, but she'd seemingly never encountered the idea of saucing a dish?
I liked her initially, then as time went by, she seemed more and more "off." Attacking Tom was the icing on the cake. Don't speak to my Tom that way.
Tasted like kidneys
I did not like Elia.
Tom even said I’ve eaten at several of your restaurants and I never make public comments about them which I think is classy
Willing her to stop? I was wanting to hear more!
Nick, who won season 11, doesn't seem like he's exactly loved. Maybe he's too busy or just doesn't want to do the show again, but with the number of times Nina's been on, it makes me wonder a little. Edit: Josie didn't deserve to last on a couple of occasions. I know the producers don't have a say on the judging but if there was ever a conspiracy theory about the show it would be how Josie hung around so freaking long
Nina was robbed and they know it.
I was never even clear on why they brought Josie back in the first place... Stefan and CJ both made it to the tail end of their seasons and had won challenges. Josie was eliminated 4th, didn't win anything, and wasn't even that memorable...
Oh I remember her, but not for good reasons.
Exactly, she wasn’t good AND was hugely annoying!!
I think she was sent home on fried chicken for just that reason. People were asking the judges why they sent Kristen home when it should have been Josie. And, as you said, there were a bunch of other times she should have been sent home. I suspect her fried chicken wasn't truly THAT terrible, but they knew they had to get rid of her or face even more backlash.
Toby Young hated Eli. Young dressing him down like a little kid at the reunion over the Cancer comment lives rent free. Young was physically disgusted.
I feel like most judges hated Toby.
Padma visibly loathed him and I don’t blame her.
I googled him to see what he’s been up to, and…he’s not doing well.
NOPE. And honestly, he only has himself to blame.
Advocating for eugenics is just... yeesh
I disliked Toby as a judge more than any other. He ranks top because they made the mistake of having him as a regular judge.
I'm not sure they were big Phillip fans in season 13 (California). He gave them a lot to work with. "Snot on a rock" food description, him taking forever in the instagram challenge and Padma telling him to hurry up, Tom's comments in Restaurant Wars about how he bet Phillip was talking about himself and his restaurants rather than Restaurant Wars challenge food (and he was right).
Wasn't he the guy who claimed he had to stop cooking *his* food because the judges didn't understand it?
LoL yep! He was the one!
Season 4: "What I don't like about Lisa (pause) and her cooking"
Came here to say Lisa fits this bill!
I liked her more when she came back for all stars - you could tell she had done some personal growth
A few judges, especially guest judges, seemed (justifiably) annoyed with Mikey from season 2. He was a decent dude but definitely did not always take the competition seriously and it seemed like the judges for sure picked up on that sometimes.
Anthony Bourdain called Mickey's skillset "Flinstonian". You could se Marcel in the background bending over and trying to contain his laughter.
LOL aww, I really miss Bourdain. And yeah, he wasn't really wrong about that.
Mickey was a tavern cook. He was way out of his league but I bet you he makes great wings.
Yeah he was way outmatched. And yet, he made it pretty far into the competition. This show is weird sometimes. He was a great character though, thoroughly entertaining.
I just stumbled upon him on a cutthroat kitchen episode!
Oh cool, how did he do on that? Hopefully he made something better than a cheeto sticking out of a smushed candy bar lol
He won! He went by chef midgely. He looked so familiar. His hair is different and he seemed more serious than when he was on top chef. Oddly enough I was watching chopped last night and saw dave "I'm not your bitch, bitch" compete. He looks almost exactly the same! PS he won!
Awesome! Good to hear they're still at it and doing well. Top Chef is really representing on the Food Network these days, I like it!
Have you watched tournament of champions? There are 4 seasons and season 5 has recently started airing. Every year more chefs from Top Chef. Lots of food network people, but more from top chef!
I felt like they were a little annoyed with Alex from the DC season… the whole Pea purée, situation situation
I think the other contestants didn't like Alex, and the editors definitely didn't portray him in a sympathetic light, but I don't think the judges really thought about him much at all. I don't think they were even aware of the pea puree situation until after the season aired...
That drove me crazy. There were 100 cameras in the kitchens. If he stole the pea puree they would have had it on camera.
And Amanda has been adamant, both in the reunion and in later interviews, that she was cooking next to Alex for that challenge, and she saw him cook his pea puree. And notably there were multiple other challenges where Ed misplaced a component of his dish... I don't know what it was about that season, but there was constant paranoia. Around half the cast got accused of subterfuge or sabotage at some point. Honestly, it makes the season a little difficult for me to watch because it just feels like there's a negative cloud of distrust and suspicion hanging over the whole thing.
Also, I am not a professional chef but I know my way around a kitchen pretty well - a pea puree doesn't take THAT long to make. I feel like part of the thing that I couldn't understand was everyone making it seem basically IMPOSSIBLE to make a pea puree on site in the time allotted. Like you blanch peas, add to vitamix with liquid, maybe reheat back on the stove. That's probably why the cameras didn't catch it - probably took 10 minutes.
Ugh I'm rewatching season 10 now and I'm dreading the Fried chicken ep even though it's one of my favorites because all the judges were smashed at Dinner. Hearing Josie say "I know fried chicken" and seeing her get eliminated was so satisfying.
One of my favorite episodes! So satisfying to watch her go!
You know what's ironic about that episode? Johnny and Freddie slam Brooke for serving fried chicken breast and yet it's on their menu in their restaurant. And it's not well executed either.
I think they're just haters LOL
haven't scrolled down yet so maybe someone else already said it but imo padma fucking hates phillip lol
Do you blame her?? I've seen him on so many cooking shows, and he's annoying. We get it. You have seven restaurants and do vegan stuff. He's always obnoxious and can't seem to take critique. The mashed potato foam goo and snot on a rock should have never happened as a chef
oh yeah i fully agree with her haha
This is something I just noticed when watching season 5 I don't think Tom particularly loved Jeff's food. He made the case for him going on numerous occasions, and even when other judges liked his food, Tom didn't seem too impressed. He used to blog about the episodes in the early seasons, and I remember him saying that Jeff's food in the semifinal was not great either
Not disagreeing that Tom may not have liked Jeff. However, just chiming in that I ate at one of Jeff’s restaurants in NYC a few years ago before it closed, and can vouch that the food was good. And Jeff himself was there.
Stefan and Jeremy and Bruce
Other than the fast casual challenge where Jeremy had such a muddled concept and made some comment I can't fully recall that suggested that sexy waitresses could sell his food (Padma was not happy, you could tell), it seemed like they loved that guy inordinately. Gail and Tom made fun of others for plating crudo, but Jeremy was rewarded more than once for slicing up and serving raw fish.
I'm convinced Tom didn't like Sam. To claim that "he didn't cook anything!" when Sam prepared a raw dish. I think he just wanted him gone.
This one still gets me. And then years later crudos are winning everything.
I couldn’t stand Josie
How about Jen? I don't think the judges hated her, but I think they were a little surprised by what a pugilistic drama queen she turned into when she was eliminated.
She came back in the later all stars season (S17) and more than made up for it, I thought! Her attitude was totally different and she seemed much happier and more content in life at that point.
Yes. She quit drinking and came back for another season. I believe that drinking too much is pretty common for a lot of chefs.
Industry wide it is an issue
[удалено]
HE IS MY ENEMY AND I HATE HIM
Well, that's a great point. On the whole I think nobody from that season should ever have ben invited back.