Mention It All - A Tale Of Two RHONYS… And Two Identical Dishes (Top Chef)

Episode Date: March 25, 2022

On this week’s Friday bonus episode, Dylan starts with some more thoughts about the RHONY reboot situation, and who he hopes to see on the RHONY Legacy show. Then, he gets into Top Chef, starting with last week’s Last Chance Kitchen. After that, he breaks down his surprising knowledge about biscuits (thanks, Martha Stewart) and whose matching dishes he was most impressed by. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Ha ha, laugh, funny. Mention It All. A Bravo by Betches podcast. We don't say that, but now we said it. With Dylan Hafer. We're going to check me, though. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Mention at All podcast.

I'm Dylan Hafer, and I am back for another Top Chef Friday. First, before we get into the new episode, I just want to shout out yesterday. My interview with Tiffany Moon, I got to say, I had such a great time talking to her. She really opened up about what happened with Jenny. all the stuff that went down with Dallas and being put on pause and what might happen in the future. I had such a great time talking to her. We also touched just a tiny bit on the New York news that came out this week. I'm sure if you're listening to this, you have seen this by now, but they are rebooting

Roney once and for all with a fresh new cast, and then they're spinning off some of our OGs and past housewives into a brand new show. And I'm very excited for this. I would hope that all of you are very excited for this, because let's face it, it's exciting. It's been a long time since we have really known what was going on with New York. And so it just feels good to have a plan in place. And obviously now they have some work to do figuring out who the cast is going to be. Personally, I am hoping that for this legacy show, I don't know who's going to be on the reboot. We'll see. For the legacy show, I'm really hoping that they mix it up. I guess, I don't know. I mean, Ramona is the big question mark to me. I would love for her to not be getting a paycheck anymore. but we'll see. But I really don't want it to just be Sonia, Luann, Ramona, Durant, like all people that were on the show in the last few years,

I really want it to feel like this kind of renaissance factor with people from all different eras coming back. You know, I would love to see, I feel like Jill Zerun is kind of a no-brainer. On Watch What Happens Live this week, Luanne said that she would like Kelly Ben-Simon to come back, which in the name of chaos, I'm down there. for. Also, she mentioned Aviva is somebody that she wouldn't mind seeing back. That would be wild. I don't think Carol Radswell is probably in the mood. She talks a lot of shit about Roney. I don't think

Bethany's going to come back. But this legacy show, whether it happens on Peacock or Bravo or, you know, 10 years from now, who the fuck knows what's happening. But I'm just really excited because I feel like it is just possibilities. And then at the same time, they can play around and have fun. And they don't have to worry about what's going to happen with like normal first string. And real houseways of New York City, that's going to be off on its own. And like, I'm glad that we're going to have some new New York housewives who are cool and young and fun and whatever that aren't going to have to deal with Ramona and Luann. And, you know, as much as I, as Ramona and Luan have given us on TV, it's like, give these new

girls a chance. Like, I feel like last season, part of what kind of went wrong was you had somebody like Ebony coming in and she had such a cool energy and there was so much potential there. And she butts up against, you know, racist-ass Ramona and Luann, God-lover. And it's like they just don't quite, they're not living in the same planet. And, you know, that's not Ebony's fault. And I feel like people kind of were, you know, there was a little too much blame going around. But anyway, we are here to talk about Top Chef.

I, first of all, I didn't talk about Last Chance Kitchen this week. I'm watching the episodes a little bit in advance. So we're going to talk about Last Chance Kitchen from last week right now. And I have to say, I have to say right up the bat. Guys, it's not good. It's not good because sweet baby Sam, sweet baby Sam decides to grill a potato once again. Well, he grills a potato and then also boils a potato and also fries a potato. It's a potato challenge.

I get you want to do something interesting. But Sam is simply doing too much. Whereas Leah, sweet Leah, I like her too. I wasn't mad about this. But Leah is kind of just doing something she knows how to do. She's doing sweet potatoes, a little hash brunch situation. She has bacon. It's something that's on her restaurant menu.

And, you know, sometimes on top chef, you don't want to go too simple. You know, you gotta do a little something to impress the judges. But Sam just says too much and it tastes too fried, according to Tom Colicchio, which I trust Tom. But yeah, Sam, Sam gets sent home. And that's devastating personally to me. We'll see, though, because last season, if I recall, there was. a little last chance kitchen switch-a-roo twist moment and everybody got kind of like one more chance to come back. So we'll see. I feel like this is not over yet. So, you know, maybe Sam will

live to fight another day. But for now, good job, Leah. She's back. Now let's get on to the main episode. This, we finally have a quick fire again this week. You know, we missed it last week. I'm glad we had it back. And it is a biscuit challenge. There's a chef named Chris Williams there. And his great grandmother was the first person to ever make an instant hot roll mix. So I guess she's like the inspiration behind like a Pillsbury biscuit type of vibe, which is really cool. Hats off to her. So everybody's going to have to make a biscuit from scratch. They have 45 minutes and it also has to be a complete dish. They can't just put a biscuit on a plate because this is top chef as Padma reminds us. Now honestly, I know I have really talked down my cooking skills, but biscuits

are something that first of all I have made before because my mother makes a mean biscuit, and I have made them with her. But also, I know from watching one Martha Stewart, I know a couple things about making biscuits. First of all, the butter needs to be cold. And second of all, basically, you want to be careful not to work the dough too much or else you'll get a tough biscuit, as Martha Stewart says. So basically, biscuits are like super delicious, super yummy, but you have to be a little careful. People are getting creative, though, with their biscuit accoutrements, let's just say, we're going to have some fried chicken. Jackson is doing an ostrich sausage moment, which I guess, I mean, I eat a lot of chicken, and I guess it's kind of just a bigger version.

Is that? Has anybody had ostrich? Let me know in a five-star review if you've eaten ostrich, because to me, this is, this sounds displeasing, but maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, some people people have trouble with these biscuits, namely Buddha, Jay, and Ashley, all mish the mark. Buddha's biscuit is crumbly with fried chicken. Jay's biscuit with fried chicken is tough. She worked it too much. If she had watched Martha Stewart, she would have known. And Ashley, oh, Ashley, she's making a black pepper biscuit, which first of all, I don't know

if that sounds good. I like a cheddar bay biscuit. I don't know about black pepper. But she has it in the oven, and then at the last minute, it's not done enough. so she just dumps it in the deep fryer. And she pulls the same shit that Sam did last week, which got him sent home, which is she makes a last minute adjustment,

but then when the judges ask her why she decided to prepare it that way, she's not saying it. She's like, oh, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to try something new. And it's like, I don't know who told these contestants that it's better to lie to the judges and make it seem like you don't know what you're doing than to just say,

yeah, I ran out of time and I really didn't want to serve you a raw biscuit or a, you know, a fake bad potato. So I just did what I could in the moment to get food on the plate. I just feel like the judges would appreciate that a little more. But anyway, it's a quick fire. Nobody's going home. The tops of the night are Damar, Evelyn, and Jackson. And Jackson is the winner. I gotta say, this is like the third time in a row that Jackson has been in the top three of a challenge.

And this is shocking to me. Because first of all, Jackson just isn't necessarily my cup of tea in general, but also he came in talking about how he just had COVID and can't smell or taste anything. And now this is a cooking competition. And he's like killing the game. So I'm surprised because it is surprising, but also I'm surprised because I don't like him is my thing. I wouldn't say I don't like him. I just like he's not for me. He's not for me.

I like the girls and the gays. Look, that's my, that I watch a lot of Survivor, you know, like different competition shows. My, I like the girls in the gaze and the vase. You know, like I, Jackson is just not, whatever. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders.

That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all. night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Anyway, the main challenge, there's this guy Wiley DeFrain, who sounds like a cartoon character, and he's known for molecular gastronomy, which Buddha is very excited about. Anyway, Jackson, as the winner of the Quickfire, gets an advantage, which is that he gets to pick his partner first, and they get 30 extra minutes of cook time.

He chooses Buddha, which Buddha points out is funny because Buddha literally just came in, like, last place on the quick fire and he immediately gets chosen. But so basically, this is crazy. This challenge is fucking crazy. Each pair has to make two different dishes that look exactly alike, but taste completely different. Oh, my God. The example that Wiley Dufrain prepares for them is this, like, it looks like a worm with dirt, which, like, to me, that just should be like a gummy worm and some ori crums. But it's, you know, one of them is like a foie gras and one of them is a dessert. I don't know. I mean, just crazy, crazy fucking shit happening on top chef. And most of all,

important, it is a double elimination. So one whole team will be going home. It's interesting to see how people kind of approach this challenge because this is something where usually, obviously, obviously all of these chefs are good at making a beautiful dish. You know, it's tasting great. It's very complex. But the plating is a big part of it. And on Top Chef, that's something that's always fun to watch is the way they plate these dishes. But this challenge throws a whole wrench into this because all of a sudden, not only do you have to come up with a great dish and it should taste good and be interesting and complex and all of this stuff, but you have to plate it in the exact same way. So you can't just, it's not just like, oh, I made a chicken breast and I want to plate it like the prettiest chicken breast in the world. It's like, no, I have to stretch my mind's limits of what a chicken breast could look like on a plate.

So it can also look like this piece of pudding or, you know, whatever. I mean, never in a million years could I do this? Like, what the fuck? But seeing the way they go about this is really impressive. And there are different strategies. Like we have some people are doing a sweet dish and a savory dish that look the same. Ashley and Luke are doing like a vegetarian and a seafood kind of two versions, not of the same, you know, two different versions.

Really interesting stuff. happening. And so it's really cool to see the way they do this. And some of them, I will say, are more impressive than others. Of course, Buddha and Jackson go first. And Buddha does a strawberries and cream type of thing. And Jackson does and everything but the bagel, which, you know, to me, that's a Trader Joe's seasoning thing. But to him, it's like gourmet food. Buda's dessert is great, apparently. I would love to taste it. Buddha is probably, now that Sam got sent home, Buddha is probably my like backup boyfriend, I would say. I just think he's fun. I think he's cute. I like his accent. I don't know. Really, really having a lot of crushes this season.

Speaking of crushing, Buddha and Jackson crushed the challenge. They end up winning. The other tops of the night are Ashley and Luke. Ashley does a scallop with honeydew. And Luke does a mushroom that looks like a scallop with some cucumber. This is really impressive. Again, I mean, all of these are impressive. Like, even the bad ones. I'm like, you did better than I would. The people on the bottom are Sarah and Robert and Evelyn and Joe. Sarah and Robert are doing like a shrimp thing and a strawberry panacotta thing. As Gail says, both domes are textually off. I hate when my domes are textually off.

But yeah, like Sarah is allergic to shellfish. Padma's like, then why the hell are you cooking shellfish? Like, girl, what? We, there were, the thing about this challenge, which is different from a lot of challenges on Top Chef, is that there were no parameters about what you could make. It wasn't like, oh, you have to make a grain that looks like a dessert. or you have to make a piece of beef that looks like a piece of cake. Like every, the actual like food element of it was entirely up to their discretion.

So it is kind of like, why Sarah are you choosing to once again work with a thing that's going to give you an allergic fucking reaction? Like, was that smart? Was that a good choice? I don't know. And I mean, well, I do know. And the answer is no. But yeah.

And then the other ones in the bottom are Evelyn and Joe, which is really rough. They had a goat cheese cheesecake and then a cauliflower puree with some pork belly. And whatever the opposite of like the star of the dish is, like the villain of the dish would be the pork belly. Clearly a lot was going on there. It didn't come out well. But I just felt bad because Joe was saying when they were cooking how she was like, Evelyn wants this so bad. And it's not like I don't, but like Evelyn wants it so bad. And I don't want to be the one to ruin it for her.

And so when they were in the bottom two and Evelyn was crying and I was just like so, I was so sad for them. And also I had just been crying because Budo was talking about his dad died before he got to see him on Top Chef. And I'm like, what is this show doing to me? It's a cooking show. And I'm sitting here like my eyes are welling up. I'm like sneezing because I don't know. There's like allergies in the air. It's springtime and now I'm getting emotional again.

But it's like, oh my God, this show, these Friday episodes are going to be. the death of me. Jesus Christ. But anyway, Sarah and Robert get sent home. I saw this coming a mile away. I didn't think Evelyn and Joe were like on the same level of rough. Once Gail said that the domes were texturally off, like, how do you come back from that? You don't. But yeah, Sarah and Robert gets sent home. They'll both be in Last Chance Kitchen, which I'll talk about next week. Overall, aside, I would say my rose and thorn of the episode of the, of, you know, everything that happened, my thorn would definitely be Sam being eliminated from Last Chance Kitchen. My rose, actually another thorn would be Jackson winning both challenges.

That was tough for me. I'm kind of pessimistic, so I might only have two thorns. I guess my rose would be Buddha winning. And clearly my brain is breaking. So this is where I leave you. Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow the show wherever you listen. You can follow us on Instagram at Bravo by Batchez.

And until next time, be cool. Don't be all like uncool. Mention It All is produced by Sean Kilby and Jorge Morales Pico. Editing by Sean Kilby. Social media by Dylan Hafer. Guest Booking by Nicole Pellegrino. Be sure to follow at Bravo by Betches on Instagram and Twitter. Pay off your home.

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