It Figures...
I miss Top Chef last night, and of course it's the episode where Tom Colicchio disappears, and Anthony Bourdain takes over. Oh, well-- at least I know Bravo will run it a few googles more in re-runs in the coming week. But why can't Tony replace the odious, faux-Michael Chiklis every week?
Comments
Colicchio's just sort of a presence on Top Chef, and all he ever seems to add is judgement. (The Television Without Pity recapper's term "sniff 'n' sneer" nails "Coldickio"'s non-contributions to both the creative process of cooking and the interest of the show.) At least Bourdain seemed to be in the kitchen along with the chefs, not detatched up on high, and he actually did some contextualizing of the cuisines. (As someone, maybe Bourdain himself, once said of Food Network's Sara Moulton, he's "a good teacher" when given the opportunity.) For example, I thought his point about the difficulty of mastering the multitude of Asian cuisines ably pointed up the flaw in Team Jerk's decision to do Asian because they thought they knew it. (And maybe what he said is bullshit, but it's also interesting.)
Colicchio just seems like a mean, constipated taskmaster a lot of the time. (Which is a shame--he's actually cute when he smiles, and I don't think a leetle bit of that warmth we know is in there could hurt.) Bourdain comes off as smarter, actually interested in the food and the chefs' processes of creation, and, oh yeah, fun. In short, he doesn't seem to be just doing a job, and it's not totally mystifying why it's his butt in particular inhabiting that chair at "Judges' Table."
As far as I'm concerned, consider that appearance Bourdain's audition. And give him the gig. No, beg him to take it.
Yes, yes, yes to all you write. I caught the re-run late last night, and found myself once more thinking that Richard and Stephanie had to be the final two. No one on Team Buddha distinguished themselves-- they were Three Chefs In Search of Excuses, and Spike seems more and more like he's auditioning to star in a Gap ad as much as to be a chef (his performance last night was a strange series of poses and tics that made him come across as the poor man's Ben Affleck). That said, Lisa felt the most grating, her performance built around an unearned sense of entitlement and a truly odious presumption that the program's problematic dynamics of race and gender will, on Bravo, generally break the white person's way (a presumption that this season of Top Chef has sadly confirmed again and again).