Mention It All - Our Kitchen Enemies Have Been Vanquished (Top Chef)

Episode Date: April 22, 2022

Dylan is back for another Top Chef recap, and he starts with his thoughts on last week’s Jurassic World product placement. Then, he dives into Restaurant Wars, where the group project dynamics are stressful, and the final nemesis of the season is crumbling under the pressure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Betch's Media presents. Ha ha, laugh, funny. Mention It All. A Bravo by Betcha's podcast. We don't say that, but now we said it. With Dylan Hafer. We're going to check me, Bill. Hey, everyone.

Welcome back to the Mention at All podcast. I'm Dylan Hafer, and I am back with another one of our Top Chef Friday moments. I know I was gone last week, but I am fully caught up on Top Chef, and I'm ready to talk about it. I have to say last week, catching up on last week's episode was, a little tough for me. For a couple of reasons. First of all, that the Jurassic World challenge, I got to say, I usually think Top Chef does a really nice job with the product placement. Usually it's like a food brand and they're doing, you know, a Talentie challenge or whatever. You know, like it kind of fits in with the thing or it's like a very vague, like tonight Padma tells them that they can, you know,

tap and go with their contactless master cards. You know, it's very simple. This Jurassic World Challenge was a little much. We have Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt appearing via video message. We have DeWanda Wise as a guest judge. And then each team having to make their dinosaur-inspired meals, I just feel like these people are talented enough chefs that I'd rather just see them make some good food

then like put like a dinosaur handprint on a plate. I don't know. I mean, I understand. I understand how our economy works. This is capitalism, baby. But I was also, I was sad to see Joe go home and then immediately on Last Chance Kitchen, she didn't fare too well. Sarah really just, just fully on a roll in Last Chance Kitchen. At this point, I don't know how many weeks of Last Chance Kitchen we have left. I'll feel kind of bad for Sarah if she doesn't make it all. all the way through. I'll just say that. But yeah, no, the Jurassic world was, it was something. I don't know. I'm excited for the movie, but like, sometimes I just like things to be kept separate. But anyway, this week's episode is Restaurant Wars. Very exciting. And I like that they are keeping part of last

season's sort of pandemic version of Restaurant Wars. And they're keeping the judges at this chef's counter. And then obviously now they're bringing back in a full restaurant with tables of diners the way it's kind of supposed to be. But they're, you know, it's just restaurant wars. There's no real twist on it. They do a school yard pick and Nick picks Damar, Ashley and Buda. Jay picks Evelyn, Jackson, and Luke. These teams, I feel like, are pretty evenly matched. I mean, y'all know I'm not into Jackson, but I feel like Evelyn, who's on that team has kind of emerged as a frontrunner. And then over on the other side, I like Buddha.

I like Nick. I like kind of everyone. I mean, aside from Jackson at this point, these eight people, there's nobody that I really dislike. Maybe Luke. Maybe Luke is not my favorite. But, you know, there's nobody else that I really have like a bone to pick with. But so we see them kind of getting into their teams, figuring out their concepts.

Ashley's team is going to do matriarch with no H on the end. We love a creative spelling. I couldn't tell you what the creative spelling adds to the concept, except, you know, maybe it just gives it that little air of mystery. It always reminds me on Top Chef when they come up with restaurant names. It reminds me of the apprentice, or like the celebrity apprentice when they would have to come up with their team names, and they would spend so much time talking about what these names meant. And it's like, okay, you know, at the end of the day, this doesn't matter. But yeah, so we have matriarch and then we have no name, which is a pun based on a food that I'm not familiar with, but it sounded good. But, you know, everybody, when they get into these team challenges, we've had a lot of team

challenges lately. Also, it feels like, maybe just two. But there's always that kind of like tension a little bit of everybody wants to cook their food. You know, we're getting down to the, you know, second half of the season. There's not that many people left. When it's a challenge where you can make whatever you want, you don't want to be stuck making a dish that somebody else came up with that you feel like isn't really your area of expertise. And so, you know, like, Jay wants to be able to cook seafood. And then, you know, Luke gets stuck making a curry that Evelyn kind of has to show him how to do. And, you know, it's, it's like any group project, I guess, which was never my forte, because I just am a little bit of a control freak. I think it would,

it would stress me out to have to, like, bend my menu that I want to do to whatever is happening. You know, like Ashley tells Buddha that she has decided, instead of a salmon tartar, she wants to do this bitter lettuce salad, which, first of all, it's like, it's like, it's a salad of like, a variety of bitter lettuces. And I'm like, am I supposed to want to eat that? I know it's fancy. But like, when you're describing something as a salad of bitter lettuces, I feel like you've got to sell it a little better than that. You know, like, tell me that it's a salad of bold and unexpected lettuce. Tell me that it's a salad of vibrant, multitextural lettuce. A salad of bitter lettuce just, I don't know.

And Buddha's not having it either. He's like, okay, Buddha definitely is like me in the group project because he is like a little bit bitchy when he doesn't agree with someone in a way that it's like, bitches get shit done. He literally says like the judges hate that shit. And you know, I don't think Ashley loved hearing that in that moment. but it might have been what Ashley needed to hear, and let me tell you, fast forward to the end of the challenge, spoiler alert, Ashley won the challenge. And let me tell you, I don't know if she would have won the challenge if she served a salad of bitter lettuce. Because who wants to eat that? I mean, I'm sure the judges would have been into it. But no, I'm not. No, I'm not sure the judges would have been into it. This might be a hot take. I think Buddha was like the necessary ingredient. that got that team to the win, even though I think Ashley's win was justified, because she was

like, she took the executive chef spot. Her dishes that she made specifically the gumbo were, you know, really amazing and delicious. But like, I feel like Buda was kind of the underrated MVP of that team as well. And he did a great job at front of house. It's stressful in restaurant wars. There's only four of them on each team. And then one of them basically has to be a to be out of the kitchen the whole time they're doing front of house while the restaurant is open. And it's always interesting to see kind of like how they handle that. And Jackson seemed very excited to do that on team no name. He was like, well, I've spent the whole pandemic doing this in my restaurant at home. So it's a no-brainer. I can do this for sure. Whereas Buddha,

I feel like he was like, yeah, yeah, it makes sense. It was a natural choice. But Jackson was so bad at it. Before the judges even got there, it just felt like everybody that he was talking to, it's like, have you ever spoken to a human? Like, do you have any social skills at all? He's like walking up to a random diner and be like, ha ha, yeah, like, I don't want to be interrupting too much. So I just, you know, make a little, a little chatter. And it's like, go away. I'm eating. I don't know. I mean, I get, it's like a hard balance to strike, but also it's like, if you feel like you're talking too much, you're probably talking too much. So like, take a couple steps back. So good. So good. So good.

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They love Buddha's bread. They love Ashley's gumbo. They love DeMar's carrot cake. There's no real weak point. Aside from the little timing issue, you can tell pretty much from start to finish that the judges are loving it. And this was not a challenge where I was wondering at judges' table who was going to be the winning team. team, let's just say. Because the judges go to no name. And I love Padma walking up to the host stand and being like, hi, do you have a reservation for Lakshmi? And it's like, girl, you're the whole, this is happening for you. But yeah, so back to Jackson, it's like, he doesn't go greet the judges. There's like a little card on their table that says welcome judges, which Tom immediately is like, well, that's cheesy. Uh-uh, no. There's nobody to greet them. Then finally, one of the random waiters goes up and is like, hey, how are you like, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, and Jackson is still nowhere to be found. And then the entire meal, he can't, he never, like, takes the hint. Even, like, Gail is asking him all these questions. Evelyn is, like, shoving him in front of the table being like,

okay, do a spiel, doish be all. This is your dish. It was kind of wild watching, like, how little he was able to, like, adjust to what felt obvious. If Gail is asking you six questions about what she has on the plate in front of her, maybe that means you didn't tell her enough about what she has on the plate in front of her. These judges aren't just talking to hear themselves talk. They would rather be able to just eat the food. But it's like, there's like lettuce wraps

deconstructed, very unclear what you're supposed to do. You have to eat the dessert with your hands because the shortbread was like gouging people's eyes out or something. I don't know. It just felt like disheveled. And I think, I think a big part of restaurant was obviously the food needs to be good. All of it needs to be like elevated. The menu needs to go together, but it's like the experience needs to be nice. And it just didn't feel like no name was able to sort of like pull it together in that way. And Matriarch really did, aside from the plating issue, you know, everything else was good. So it's pretty obvious going into Judge's table that Matriarch is the winner. Ashley is the winner. They get to split $40,000.

Love that for them, you know, to build something priceless because it's furnished by MasterCard, of course. And then, you know, no name is the not winners. Jay gets really good reviews. She is clearly like the top performer on the worst team. It was pretty clear that Jay and Evelyn were going to be safe. Evelyn has been a total top tier, top chef, chef testant, the last few weeks. So I felt like nobody was really kind of like thinking she was on the chopping block. So right away, it's down to Jackson and Luke. You know, Luke had his fair share of stumbles. Jackson, I've mentioned. And after they leave judges' table while they're waiting for the decision, that's when Jackson decides that it's the right time to tell everyone about his lack of taste

and smell. I've been waiting for this moment all season, but now that it's here, I'm like, what did you think you were doing? To wait and say it, like, right after this group challenge, I feel like restaurant wars is kind of like the peak of the season. And your group was relying on you. And you're like, oh, ha ha, guys, by the way, I felt like I should tell you this. And it's like, you should have told them that last week. You should have told them that week one. But like, Luke is literally thinking he's going to go home.

And he's like, bro, I underseason the fish because you told me it was too salty. Why would you even say that? Even if you didn't say, oh, I had COVID. I had no sense of taste. Tell me to go have Jay taste it. it's not that hard. I would have been more pissed. You know, everybody on Top Chef is like a little too nice to each other.

I would have been like, fuck off. If I go home, you should go home, you know? You should pack up your knives and go right now because you're an asshole. But you know what? Padma has our back. She has me. She's thinking of me. And so she tells Jackson to pack his knives and go. Just like that, all three of my nemeses of the season,

We had North Dakota, Stephanie. We had Monique, a lesser nemesis. And COVID-Jackson have all been vanquished from the kitchen. And I gotta say, it feels good. It feels so good. At this point, there are seven people left plus, you know, last chance, which Jackson also got some of one last chance. So Sarah is still kicking.

I feel like anybody, I was going to say I feel like anybody, Luke, I would be okay with winning. But right now, I feel like the top four-ish are like Evelyn, Buddha, Ashley, and perhaps Jay. I don't know. There's a lot of possibilities. I feel like Nick and DeMar both need like a standout moment. I think they're both very capable. I don't see them as frontrunners. But it could change. Everything could change. And I guess we'll find out if it does change next week. But until then, thank you for for listening. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow the show wherever you listen. You can follow us on Instagram at Bravo by Betches. 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. is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theatre stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavat Theatre.com,

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