The Incident


Okay, let's address the incident first shall we. It was wrong, but in my opinion not outwardly malicious. It was stupid drunk people who let things get out of hand. It happens. No one really got hurt and I don't think it would have escalated to that point. That said, what Cliff did was uncalled for and should have been stopped by the others. I don't think they tried to stop it because they really didn't think it was that serious and since they know Cliff, I doubt they really thought he was going to do real harm to poofy head. I think Marcel handled it better than I thought he would and Cliff handled his dismissal very well. Do I think he should have been kicked out, no, but he broke the rules so I'm not too upset about it either. Now onto the food.


1) Sam - He won the quickfire challenge and served up a succulent meal. He has almost consistantly delivered and I hope he wins. In Padma's Blog entry she does address the drunken child like actions of the group but also continually praises Sam for his skills in working with other chefs and for his cooking skills.

2) Ilan - He basically sucked on the Quickfire challenge but he brought it with his course during the romantic meal. Padma, in her blog, called it the best dish of the season and I think he will most likely take one of the top 2 spots for the final challenge.

3) Marcel - His Quickfire dish was great according to the guest judge, but his Romantic Course was lacking in the specialness department. The problem with Marcel is that he, at least on this show, doesn't realize that this is ultimatly a team effort. They had to put out a 5 course meal and if any of those dishes are not good then the whole establishment suffers. His attitude in the kitchen has always been lacking and I just don't think he has what it takes to be Top Chef.

4) Elia - Her Quickfire dish was lacking and her dessert was underwhelming, yet tasty. I like Elia but in this episode I don't think she did that well. I also don't think she has the drive or the leadership abilities to call herself the Top Chef. She's nice and seems like a great gal, but I just don't see the will to win like I see in the other 3 I've already mention.

5) Cliff - Good Quickfire, bad Romantic Course. He would have left anyway but I was sad to see him leave under those circumstances. He started out strong but became to safe and really was surpassed by the 4 who remain. Oh well, too bad so sad.