Dawn being dawn

I also thought shota choked a bit

Dawn did what Dawn did all season. She would have been home a month ago if Top Chef wasn't sucking up to the SJW crowd.

And yet it's spot on. Only person to survive missing part of her dish multiple times.

Facts > feelings

This is weak take. Dawn was easily one of the most talented chefs on the show and you want to minimize her accomplishments. Missing things and other non taste elements only come in when the food is otherwise equal as long as it's not a Yuzu challenge where don't use Yuzu. Missing things almost always makes you ineligible to win it all


Our group of 10 or 12 all thought Dawns food likely tasted the best, Shota was the most technically excellent and gabe was a great blend of both.

You mean like having to use the Tilamook cheese five ways and then leaving one of this five ways off of a judges plate? Cause that is exactly what Dawn did.

And before you think it is just me:

https://www.mashed.com/447179/the-big-problem-fans-have-with-this-top-chef-portland-elimination/

So they didn't meet their diversity quota by having two (three) Mexicans including Byron, a Japanese guy, and another Asian so they kept the black chick around? That's your argument here? Sounds like you're the one with your feelings hurt here, Bubba.

can we leave your poltiical paranoia out of this please. go post about it on gab.

anyways. i was kind of let down after a tremendous season. was really expecting more out of shota. feels like he peaked on his last challenge.

maybe its that they've been cooking at such a high level all season that it would have been tough to really take it to a new level.

KT_Ag08 said:

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So they didn't meet their diversity quota by having two (three) Mexicans including Byron, a Japanese guy, and another Asian so they kept the black chick around? That's your argument here? Sounds like you're the one with your feelings hurt here, Bubba.

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Bubba? WTF? Now you report to name callin because you can't argue the facts?

My opinion is she was kept around despite inexcusable lapses over and over due to politics. If you really think that a Mexican or a Japanese person is the same diversity quota as a black female you haven't paid attention the last two years.


She was my early favorite with the Olympics and Texas background but she didn't deserve to be there. She hosed her team by not keeping a cohesive menu, she left items off of plates 3 times including one that was supposed to be featured.

Or Gabe serving a hot dish on a cold challenge?

Keeper of The Spirits said:

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Our group of 10 or 12 all thought Dawns food likely tasted the best, Shota was the most technically excellent and gabe was a great blend of both.

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This is a pretty good take and I totally agree. Shota had the most technique and skill, but I dont think I wouldve liked his food the best. He is the probably the most skilled chef of the 3, but I would rather eat at Dawn or Gabe's restaurant if given a choice.

According to Dawn's bio she stopped working at a restaurant to help out her mom and runs a meal preparation service. I wonder if that played a part in her running out of time on every challenge!

Yeah so one of the people that is being biased and playing politics is the person you are going to reference? Logic isn't your strong suit is it?

You can act like I'm crazy but I've actually provided backup. Great chefs get sent home all the time for less mistakes than Dawn.

Nobody is saying that Dawn is not a good chef but the fact is she made critical mistakes that normally have you being booted. Even Top Chef Masters has bad assets lose for poor time management.

Keeper of The Spirits said:

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Or Gabe serving a hot dish on a cold challenge?

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. So you admit that Dawn didn't serve a key required element? Because you are pivoting and changing arguments instead of admitting you were dead wrong in that point.

Gail was looking quite tasty herself last night

Negative I'm saying those errors are in same category, they more or less conformed to the challenge but don't ignore it all together.

Her dish had the cheeses
Gabes used the crab

Neither were sent home

mpl35 said:

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Yeah so one of the people that is being biased and playing politics is the person you are going to reference? Logic isn't your strong suit is it?

You can act like I'm crazy but I've actually provided backup. Great chefs get sent home all the time for less mistakes than Dawn.

Nobody is saying that Dawn is not a good chef but the fact is she made critical mistakes that normally have you being booted. Even Top Chef Masters has bad assets lose for poor time management.

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And those mistakes didn't have the flavors her did

But she didn't win

It would have been very easy to crown her the victory if what you said is reality.
She didn't win though

StringerBell said:

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can we leave your poltiical paranoia out of this please. go post about it on gab.

anyways. i was kind of let down after a tremendous season. was really expecting more out of shota. feels like he peaked on his last challenge.

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Yup, I thought Shota was peaking at just the right time and now it looks like he hit it just a hair too early. He also realized looking back that in the final he didn't quite plan out all his courses as the fine dining they should've been.

Gabe just nailed it all season, his dishes had so much depth and were super interesting takes on a lot of traditional Mexican flavors. Really looking forward to visiting the restaurant he's opening up in Austin.

Dawn cooked really great food all season but I don't think has the refinement that Shota and Gabe do, she never quite knew exactly how to edit her plates and that and her time management cost her in the end.

Overall a really great season, it's rare than one of these ends and I genuinely love everybody.

gabe getting fired from austin restaurant prior to filming is interesting to me now. seemed like a pretty decent dude on the show.

did any of yall watch the top chef amateurs thing? i love that they're branching out with the top chef brand.

true or false

dawn would have won this thing had she been able to consistently manage her time well

i immediately go to false, but then she always got high praise on her dishes

Ooh, it would've been close. I think she could have, but I feel like Gabe's depth of flavors and creativity would've pulled it out for him at the end.

lmao went back to page 1 of the thread just to read through and the three chefs talked about most were gabe shota and dawn with sarah coming in 4th

StringerBell said:

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gabe getting fired from austin restaurant prior to filming is interesting to me now. seemed like a pretty decent dude on the show.

did any of yall watch the top chef amateurs thing? i love that they're branching out with the top chef brand.

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Any idea why he got fired? He did seem like a decent dude.

I read Dawn is opening up a restaurant in Houston in August. I will definitely check it out.

StringerBell said:

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true or false

dawn would have won this thing had she been able to consistently manage her time well

i immediately go to false, but then she always got high praise on her dishes

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I still think false, Gabe wouldve ended up beating her regardless.

I think it was a mistake for Dawn to pick Jamie as the sous chef for the finale. Jamie is scatter brained and a little crazy in the kitchen, definitely didnt help with her time management issues. I think Dawn should have picked the costa rican dude; he seems very focused, quick, and calm in the kitchen. He would have helped her focus and get everything on the plate.

apparently top chef is catching some heat

https://decider.com/2021/07/02/top-chef-names-winner-fired-from-restaurant-inappropriate-behavior/

Quote:

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In a report published this morning by the Austin-American Statesman, Erales said he had a consensual sexual relationship with a Comedor employee in summer 2020 and cut her hours based when he returned from Top Chef in November. While Erales claimed he cut the woman's hours due to job performance, Speer told the outlet he did not think the woman's work was a sufficient reason to cut her hours.

"After I returned from Top Chef, I made some business decisions as a manager that affected this employee and were found to be discriminatory and I realized that those were bad decisions," Erales told the Statesman. "I've spent the last six months really reflecting on these mistakes and taking the necessary steps to be a better husband, a father, a chef and a leader, through therapy, through spirituality."

A source close to Top Chef told the Statesman that the show knew Erales had been fired from Comedor in December, but the restaurant did not share additional details surrounding his firing. The show conducted a background check on Erales and looked into his behavior on the set and made the decision to go ahead with the season as previously planned.

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mpl35 said:

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KT_Ag08 said:

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So they didn't meet their diversity quota by having two (three) Mexicans including Byron, a Japanese guy, and another Asian so they kept the black chick around? That's your argument here? Sounds like you're the one with your feelings hurt here, Bubba.

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Bubba? WTF? Now you report to name callin because you can't argue the facts?

My opinion is she was kept around despite inexcusable lapses over and over due to politics. If you really think that a Mexican or a Japanese person is the same diversity quota as a black female you haven't paid attention the last two years.


She was my early favorite with the Olympics and Texas background but she didn't deserve to be there. She hosed her team by not keeping a cohesive menu, she left items off of plates 3 times including one that was supposed to be featured.

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I disagree with you about the race thing, I dont think they were doing her any favors because of her race, she clearly belonged in the top 3 because she is an amazing chef. However, I will say that the black judges (Nina Compton, Gregory, Kwame) seemed to favor her and were pulling for her, probably because of her race. Nina and Gregory kept giving her tips and advice, I didnt see them doing that with the other chefs. Even that one asian judge just kept on and on about how amazing her food was but didnt mention any of the errors in her dishes like the other judges.

StringerBell said:

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lmao went back to page 1 of the thread just to read through and the three chefs talked about most were gabe shota and dawn with sarah coming in 4th

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Sarah and that other redhead chef from Houston had the chops to make it further in the contest. Redhead Houston girl won 3-4 times in a row on Last Chance Kitchen, but its just too difficult to pull that off another 4-5 times to make it back in the competition. Those 2 were also the most annoying lol.

StringerBell said:

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apparently top chef is catching some heat

https://decider.com/2021/07/02/top-chef-names-winner-fired-from-restaurant-inappropriate-behavior/

Quote:

---

In a report published this morning by the Austin-American Statesman, Erales said he had a consensual sexual relationship with a Comedor employee in summer 2020 and cut her hours based when he returned from Top Chef in November. While Erales claimed he cut the woman's hours due to job performance, Speer told the outlet he did not think the woman's work was a sufficient reason to cut her hours.

"After I returned from Top Chef, I made some business decisions as a manager that affected this employee and were found to be discriminatory and I realized that those were bad decisions," Erales told the Statesman. "I've spent the last six months really reflecting on these mistakes and taking the necessary steps to be a better husband, a father, a chef and a leader, through therapy, through spirituality."

A source close to Top Chef told the Statesman that the show knew Erales had been fired from Comedor in December, but the restaurant did not share additional details surrounding his firing. The show conducted a background check on Erales and looked into his behavior on the set and made the decision to go ahead with the season as previously planned.

---

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He would have kept it up had the women not reported it

that's wild didnt they show him talking to his wife and kids on the show?

fig96 said:

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StringerBell said:

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can we leave your poltiical paranoia out of this please. go post about it on gab.

anyways. i was kind of let down after a tremendous season. was really expecting more out of shota. feels like he peaked on his last challenge.

---

Yup, I thought Shota was peaking at just the right time and now it looks like he hit it just a hair too early. He also realized looking back that in the final he didn't quite plan out all his courses as the fine dining they should've been.

Gabe just nailed it all season, his dishes had so much depth and were super interesting takes on a lot of traditional Mexican flavors. Really looking forward to visiting the restaurant he's opening up in Austin.

Dawn cooked really great food all season but I don't think has the refinement that Shota and Gabe do, she never quite knew exactly how to edit her plates and that and her time management cost her in the end.

Overall a really great season, it's rare than one of these ends and I genuinely love everybody.

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Agree on Shota and that's what's so weird. The finale is always this. I just assume that most chefs have at least some idea what they will cook in the finale before the show even starts.

Anybody watch "Beat Bobby Flay?" Dawn was on last week's episode. Not sure when it was filmed, but it first aired on 6/24. Anyway, she lost in the first round, in part because, you guessed it, she ran out of time and left something off her plate.

Jackal99 said:

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Anybody watch "Beat Bobby Flay?" Dawn was on last week's episode. Not sure when it was filmed, but it first aired on 6/24. Anyway, she lost in the first round, in part because, you guessed it, she ran out of time and left something off her plate.

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Shota beat Bobby Flay though

I happened to catch that actually, from where it mentioned she was cooking I'm pretty sure it's from 3 or 4 years back.

But yeah, we noted the irony.