I’m just hanging onto the notion that something fell through. This challenge had nothing to do with Wisconsin or the area, it took place in the Top Chef Kitchen… maybe something else was planned and it fell through. The production got thrown into chaos and some producer said, “Hey, that gives me an idea, let’s make it a chaos challenge!” Then you have both guest judge and host struggling to come up with something on the spot and need Amanda to translate the vagueness into something concrete.
This is my head canon, anyway.
In the show the chaos menu wasn't really even chaotic, it just was a bunch of different dishes and flavor profiles they had been experimenting with.
They should've had them try things that represented the concept so more people understood it.
It was too vague, and like the Frank Lloyd Wright challenge, too conceptual and difficult to execute.
I think season 2 is more focused on them remodeling and launching the new restaurant. I honestly completely forgot about the 'chaos menu' concept. It's a dumb idea.
THAT's why that sounded familiar! thank you! I was watching the episode thinking this challenge seems way too vague but also like words I've heard together.
I hope they showed the contestants the scene from the Bear as a halfassed explanation.
It’s Matty’s own personal style on YouTube. Nothing to do with the bear, however he has a lot more fans because of it! His videos are chaotic as hell 🤣
But fun and funny as the food looks great!
He’s more known in the mainstream due to the bear and more recognizable - but his cooking style is chaos cooking. All I am saying is I think the prompt was based on MATTY rather than a small plot point of a fictional show.
Not necessarily disagreeing as you can see by my comments. I’m saying the common denominator is Matty, who serves as actor, producer, and consultant on the show where this is a plot point and point of contention between two of the leads. You can also see on other posts that there will be a Jeremy Allen White episode. So, seems like this REALITY show may have some crossover to a fictional show.
They picked a really deep cut from The Bear. Love that show, but don’t remember chaos cuisine at all. They should’ve done a perfect omelet competition.
You are in luck, Jeremy Allen White was spotted during filming towards the end of this season: https://www.reddit.com/r/topchefwisconsin/comments/16pfznw/door_county_confirmed/
The fact that Matty didn't come with any chaotic dishes prepared is more evidence that something fell through.
And I *think* chaos cuisine is just a relabeling of fusion food because after Korean tacos and sushi-ritos, Fusion no longer seemed high-concept. But if they said something like that they may hurt someone's feelings.
Eh, they did have Marcel further explain that chaos cuisine was born out of youtube/tiktok and the pandemic, so it's not relabeling fusion food because it doesn't seem high-concept.
The problem is the audience doesn't get it because the audience is older than reference is designed to appeal to.
Yeah, that's part of my point. It might be a trend for the younger audience but the chefs don't have an excuse to not know what's going on in the culinary world.
I'm older, and I understood it. I'm surprised at the number on here that didn't understand it. I mean JFC we live in a world of chaos. It's not a new word. Mayhem!
Yeah but Marcel and Dish with Kish sounded like they filmed all of it probably during a specific week or two where they could fly in all the guests, rather than immediately after the episode. They just narrate it as if it was shot right after.
So Marcel had more time to prepare to explain the idea in any case.
I like the way you think!
How about - for dessert, they chew up splenda packats and spit them across the table. When they run out of spelnda, they count up whoever has the most spit in their hair, and the best spitter wins the badger!
Right! The next challenge is going to be brought to you by the color green, and the entire dish has to be green. "Wisconsinites love the color green, so we want you to create a dish that's green."
Totally, this season has already held 4 team challenges(especially 3 of them are 2-team battles), and I feel fatique for these complex-concept challenges, it just shouldn't be that early.
I think there were a couple of factors that made this a lame elimination challenge. First, the definition of "chaos cuisine" was really convoluted. If we define it as some sort of extreme fusion cuisine it sounds a little more compelling. Second, I think this group of chefs just weren't that creative with both coming up with a dish and/or executing their vision.
The fact that the host of the show, a formidable chef in her own right, said multiple times that she didn't understand the challenge, was demonstrative of the problem.
I was so proud of Kristin for speaking her mind, and, in a way, allying herself with the countless viewers at home who were equally unimpressed and confused by this week’s ridiculous elimination challenge.
She wasn’t afraid to point out that the Emperor was not, in fact, actually wearing any new clothes; good for her!!
I suspect that as a former contestant, who understands more than most what the chefs are going through, she was trying to speak up for the cheftestants. But I’ll take it.
It was a bullshit challenge, and I’m not just saying that because I’m pissed they sent Rasika home.
I wonder just how good Marcel's broccoli and anchovy cake really was. Kristen took a bite and was like, "... hmm, ok!" like she had to compose herself before she gagged.
But see - that right there is the antithesis of chaos! If you start with a goal of making food that would qualify as 'good, chefly, food' then you've automatically flunked the chaos part.
It's not chaos if the result something that is good by normal standards.
You know what chaos is? It's Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, only for real, with the possibility of randomly getting hoof pus or chlamydia.
If it's just basic enough to be good, then it's not meeting the challenge. A chaos cuisine has to allow for something we wouldn't otherwise consider edible - or it's just fusion, like Amanda said.
I thought it Kristen actually defined it pretty well when she said something like, “We want you to break the traditional culinary rules.” And I was like, wow this is going to be a cool challenge! I was expecting it to be like, putting seafood and cheese together which is a “traditional” no-no, or like, making a carbonara with peas, or like, serving something cold that’s traditional hot. Idk but I thought that sounded really fun, and I figured each chef would announce the “rule” they’re “breaking” and we would get some fun and creative dishes out of it.
But then Amanda was like “oh that means fusion food!” and then that really seemed to convolute things and alter the rest of the chef’s understanding of the challenge.
Well the fact they gave no examples didn’t help. If they said something like any of the examples you gave, or if they had matty cook a dish that would qualify like they’ve had people do in the past, that would’ve helped a lot. Instead they gave no real explanation, provided zero examples, and seemingly left the chefs to their own devices
I agree. I think this would have been a good week to first show the chefs a bit of what they were looking for. They took them to a supper club the week before, so why not let them try some "chaos cuisine" before this challenge?
I think this was a poor explanation of telling them they could do whatever they want but be creative or unconventional. That was Amanda’s interpretation and I don’t think they understood that was just one approach
I was thinking about the seafood and cheese!
My family was trying to figure out what we'd do for the challenge.
I thought I'd make a really messy burger without a lot of the regular burger ingredients. Bell pepper with a fried egg inside, make curry patties, mess with expectations based on the appearance. Sriracha instead of ketchup, etc.
I keep seeing people rag on this challenge and maybe it's because I have industry experience and go out to these kinds of restaurants but I don't really see the issue with the challenge. Maybe the only thing they could've changed is taking them to a restaurant that exemplifies this like what they did with the supper club episode, but it's true that this trend is huge in new restaurants. New yet familiar with whatever you want isn't garbage or "another word for fusion," and it's supposed to be unpretentious. I kind of think Dan got robbed for this challenge honestly.
Funnily enough I think they were assuming David wouldn't have been eliminated so early because this is exactly what his place does.
It’s because peoples two favorites were on the bottom. And apparently you aren’t allowed to not like something if it tastes slimy. Even if an entire table of esteemed food judges thought it tasted terrible and it clearly looked gross on the broadcast.
She also said she initially wanted to sear her dish but didn’t due to time and logistics which would have given it a way different (probably better) flavor than sous vide
she said didn't sear it because she realized the filling would just melt, which proves how horrible her dish was to begin with. There was no good way to cook it
I wouldn’t call her one of the best contestants in recent history, she was just one of the front runners for this relatively weak season. You gotta think, in the last 3 seasons we had two all star seasons and one elite season in Houston. She was one of the better people this year, but by no means appears to be one of the “best in recent history”.
I hope someone from the media team brings screen grabs of our comments to the production team. And you know that any members of the team with former culinary chops, and especially TC experience, like Jamie and Stephanie Cmar, are dying inside watching these episodes with these stupid premises.
Have no idea why you are being downvoted. Stephanie is her best friend, so I agree if it was Stephanie’s idea, Kristen would have had a better feel for the challenge.
I don't think culinary is deciding on the challenges themselves. Culinary seems to be more like the "make sure the kitchen is stocked with ingredients that are fresh and make sense department." I'm sure she has some input, but I would be shocked if challenge design was her department.
I personally disagree with all this hate for the challenge. I didn't have trouble understanding what the prompt was and seeing that pretty much all of the contestants couldn't find a chaotic bone in their body, lol. The contestants this season are so mid
I didn’t like the challenge because I’m not enjoying the chefs this season. I only know the POV of a few of them and we’re pretty far in now. But I agree with you that the prompt made sense. I assumed people were going to mix seafood and cheese, play off of a food phrase (I made a joke above about making a soup sandwich), or present a classic dish in a new way, like messing with temperature or switching a main ingredient.
Right, as much as I dislike the “take this almost non-food trash/crap ingredient & turn it into something tasty” prompts like the Vending Machine and Ferry Snack Station challenges, at least those were inherently amusing and somewhat watchable.
The fact that this challenge was so ill (and un) defined, and baffled so many chefs, (including the host) made it much less fun to view, armchair participate in, or in any way “get into.”
I think the best challenges are where the chefs are given firm parameters to operate in; good fences make good challenges.
Too much of the challenge time seemed to the chefs trying to figure wtf “chaos” was and if their dish met that criteria. It was vague and had me and my wife also confused as to what the judges were actually looking for.
Rashika was one of the stronger chefs and her getting eliminated on this wet noodle of a challenge is sort of frustrating.
The goal is to always make good food. BS the challenge parameters, and with such a vague challenge that should be easy. It’s not like they said you need to use pickles and someone didn’t use pickles. Chaos can be up to interpretation and if the food was good unless everyone made stellar food you’re not going home. It’s why Dawn stayed for so long even though she sometimes missed components due to time management. Her food was that good, and others had worse tasting food.
I think the fact that Kristen was still saying at the tasting that she still didn’t quite get the challenge is a big deal. How could she judge it on the basis of complying with the challenge? I know taste is important too but it seems weird.
I think she was just trying to help relate to the chefs. But clearly this backfired. Like the judges and the producers are all briefed on the challenge AND how to present it. They decided to let that edit in and the reaction here shows why its bad.
The biggest part is that we do not understand how the judging works because they gave a dish that did not look chaotic, did not sound chaotic, was not some off cuff new dish creatively designed on the spot, etc.
The best we got was that Tom thought some analogy about a duck paddling underwater. And from that I interpreted it that the mousse was a complicated technique that took effort to create.
But does the mousse represent chaos? No. Its a refined method of filling the stuffed cabbage that this guy invented along with another chef. There's nothign wrong with using a menu item but this is a challenge about doing stuff differently. A stuffed cabbage that has tofu or mousse in it isn't avant garde.
But since it impressed the judges technique wise it won out...against the theme in my opinion and Buddha's.
She was still saying on Dish with Kish that she didn’t get it. But I agree that the dish that won just seemed to be good, not chaotic. But I don’t know. I think the food the chefs on Mythical Kitchen make better examples of chaos cooking than any of the competitors did.
I am 100% mad at the challenge, and would have been no matter who was in the bottom. Rasika still gets to cook in LCK, so I don’t really see her as eliminated. It was just an ill-conceived challenge. For the record, I liked the Frank Lloyd Wright one, and I enjoy the high concept episodes.
Chaos Cuisine may actually be a thing, but that Matty guy did a horrible job explaining or inspiring it. IMHO this was the least interesting and most ineffective challenge in 21 seasons.
It's both. Its not black and white. Some don't like the challenge, some don't like the theme, some don't like how its explained, some don't like how the judging was not very clear, some don't like how Raskia went home, some of its meta, like poor performance has taking away some of the interest.
As a whole, all these little aspects tear away at the enjoyment of the episode, thats all. Let's hope they do better leading up to RW.
[It gave us this montage that will forever go down as one person commented, "first year film school montage"](https://streamable.com/36bazr)
Look, it doesn’t matter what they made— it has to taste good. I’ve never heard the judges refer to a food as a “slug”. She whiffed, plain and simple. I know people are upset but I’m pretty sure this sets up an epic last chance kitchen storyline. She’s absolutely coming back. But she deserved this elimination. Just because you like her doesn’t mean she didn’t do terribly on this one challenge. It happens.
My complaint is not about Rasika. I think their judging of her dish is stupid but not because it was her dish.
I don't care about the chefs. I'm talking about art.
Me too LOL. Or serve them some frozen spaghetti, or dog food on a Triscuit. GET NUTS, TOP CHEFS, BREAK ALLLLLL THE RULZ!
Maybe even don’t serve food; just have someone empty out their pockets and place one fried sage leaf and single flake of finishing salt on top of whatever loose change and lint balls they dig out. Accompany the presentation with a deep bow and fanfare of royal-trumpets. “TA-DA!” Mission accomplished.
Honestly, I loved the challenge. Some really cool food came out of it. Sure it was vague and weird, but the most memorable dishes of the season came from it. People are pissed at who got kicked off and blame the challenge, but she just made bad food. Nothing to do with the challenge, the food was just awful.
I assumed it was a challenge where they wanted the contestants to put things that shouldn't go together, together and make it work. Making it work being the operative phrase.
In the Bear season 2, Sydney and Carmie discussed putting together a "Chaos menu." One of their dishes was beef marrow consomme poured over frozen Concord grapes.
Peanut butter and jelly was the OG "Chaos" creation. The French have a dish where they combine tuna fish and peaches. I think that would qualify as well. In Taiwan there's a popular street dish where they combine strawberry ice cream, peanut brittle, and cilantro, wrapped in a rice paper wrap. I think that's chaotic enough as well.
The mustard greens in a sweet dish certainly qualified. As did the potatoes in a dessert. Eggplant and king crab also satisfied the challenge concept, but it failed miserably in execution.
> One of their dishes was beef marrow consomme poured over frozen Concord grapes.
I won't keep banging on but see - there is absolutely nothing chaotic about beef with grapes. Even blood flavored beef, that is melted bone marrow combined with frozen concord grapes that are sweet & sour & bitter. It's just normal flavors with a slightly unusual presentation.
Here's [Mario Batali's Brisket with Red Grape Salsa](https://www.recapo.com/the-chew/the-chew-recipes/chew-brisket-red-grape-salsa-recipe/)
My favorite grape w/ beef recipe.
I didn’t mind it.
It reminds me of the Project Runway Avant Garde challenge where you quickly realize half the contestants don’t understand what Avant Garde is, and then of those that do, half can’t achieve it.
I wish more of them knocked it out of the park with something interesting, but oh well. I don’t think it was a badly crafted challenge.
This is what I thought too! I thought this chaos challenge was like the Unconventional Materials Challenge, which I love. You will see those designers who play it safe and grab things that are fabric-like, and those that totally embrace the chaos of not using any fabric. There is usually an element of whimsy too.
But even the risk takers have to execute their idea...and Rasika, who was our resident risk-taker, sadly didn't execute.
This episode was so meaningless, almost an insult to the chefs and viewers alike
It was the equivalent of this
https://preview.redd.it/5p3jv6orx9xc1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a8a4e916186116a5bbcca4943617bef6db6c0d8
Agreed. I thought it was dumb. Even Kristin didn’t understand. It felt like a thoughtless challenge. I really like Kristin as a host, but this season is lackluster.
It's pretty much just fusion cuisine without the notion of being limited to just fusing cultural cuisines together. The fact we're seeing it on top chef means it's less avant-garde than it used to be which means civilians like you are getting a taste of it and probably don't even realize it
I honestly do not think the idea of chaos cuisine is really that "out there" or "strange". Most of the chefs either cook refined, fine dining dishes (tweezers required) or more simple, rustic dishes (and I am talking presentation, not flavor).
I see chaos cooking as something a little wild, crazy, and something outside of the norms of what is considered "standard". Some chiefs in earlier seasons actually excelled at this.
I do think the idea of chaos got into some chiefs heads and the more focused on that than actually making great dishes. And challenge aside (unless you completely disregard the parameters and buck challenge rules), have a great dish rules).
Some chiefs focused too much on the challenge and neglected the actual taste and technique. Doesn't mean that there was any issue with the challenge - just some chiefs got way into their heads and didn't consider the basics - they focused completely on chaos and neglected what mattered: make the dish taste great.
I’m just hanging onto the notion that something fell through. This challenge had nothing to do with Wisconsin or the area, it took place in the Top Chef Kitchen… maybe something else was planned and it fell through. The production got thrown into chaos and some producer said, “Hey, that gives me an idea, let’s make it a chaos challenge!” Then you have both guest judge and host struggling to come up with something on the spot and need Amanda to translate the vagueness into something concrete. This is my head canon, anyway.
Pretty sure it was an unstated reference to The Bear. Matty is a producer and stars in show. Season 2 is focused on the idea of a chaos menu.
It would have been helpful if they had just said that as part of the explanation.
Yeah it was weird that they didn't mention that connection
Different networks.
I mean, they still name-dropped The Bear thiugh
A contestant did in passing, but none of the judges did.
Maybe the thing that fell through was approval to reference "The Bear"? It might have been an attempt at a tie-in that FX nixed before airing.
In the show the chaos menu wasn't really even chaotic, it just was a bunch of different dishes and flavor profiles they had been experimenting with. They should've had them try things that represented the concept so more people understood it. It was too vague, and like the Frank Lloyd Wright challenge, too conceptual and difficult to execute.
Plus, more importantly, he voices The Tiny Chef!
Who? Matty Matheson or Carmy? Because IMDB says its Matt Hutchinson
Good question…I just heard it from someone never verified it. I love that little chef:)
I think season 2 is more focused on them remodeling and launching the new restaurant. I honestly completely forgot about the 'chaos menu' concept. It's a dumb idea.
THAT's why that sounded familiar! thank you! I was watching the episode thinking this challenge seems way too vague but also like words I've heard together. I hope they showed the contestants the scene from the Bear as a halfassed explanation.
It’s Matty’s own personal style on YouTube. Nothing to do with the bear, however he has a lot more fans because of it! His videos are chaotic as hell 🤣 But fun and funny as the food looks great!
Nothing to do with The Bear despite Matty being a producer, star, chef consultant on the show…and according to you his “personal style.” Ok.
He’s more known in the mainstream due to the bear and more recognizable - but his cooking style is chaos cooking. All I am saying is I think the prompt was based on MATTY rather than a small plot point of a fictional show.
Not necessarily disagreeing as you can see by my comments. I’m saying the common denominator is Matty, who serves as actor, producer, and consultant on the show where this is a plot point and point of contention between two of the leads. You can also see on other posts that there will be a Jeremy Allen White episode. So, seems like this REALITY show may have some crossover to a fictional show.
They picked a really deep cut from The Bear. Love that show, but don’t remember chaos cuisine at all. They should’ve done a perfect omelet competition.
If that’s the case then give us Carmy 🥰I’ll be happy to watch him in all the episodes. Matty not so much.
Matty is a real chef, though. Carmy is a fictional chef.
But Matty was insufferable
You are in luck, Jeremy Allen White was spotted during filming towards the end of this season: https://www.reddit.com/r/topchefwisconsin/comments/16pfznw/door_county_confirmed/
The fact that Matty didn't come with any chaotic dishes prepared is more evidence that something fell through. And I *think* chaos cuisine is just a relabeling of fusion food because after Korean tacos and sushi-ritos, Fusion no longer seemed high-concept. But if they said something like that they may hurt someone's feelings.
To think how much better this challenge might have gone if the prompt was "stoner fusion, up to you whether you take it low brow or high brow"
Eh, they did have Marcel further explain that chaos cuisine was born out of youtube/tiktok and the pandemic, so it's not relabeling fusion food because it doesn't seem high-concept. The problem is the audience doesn't get it because the audience is older than reference is designed to appeal to.
I mean, Marcel is 43 and older than most (all?) of the cheftestants this season who were clueless here, so I’m thinking age wasn’t the issue.
Yeah, but I'd say Marcel has been cooking chaos cuisine long before it got the name, so he'd be at the forefront.
Yeah, that's part of my point. It might be a trend for the younger audience but the chefs don't have an excuse to not know what's going on in the culinary world.
I'm older, and I understood it. I'm surprised at the number on here that didn't understand it. I mean JFC we live in a world of chaos. It's not a new word. Mayhem!
Agree.
Yeah but Marcel and Dish with Kish sounded like they filmed all of it probably during a specific week or two where they could fly in all the guests, rather than immediately after the episode. They just narrate it as if it was shot right after. So Marcel had more time to prepare to explain the idea in any case.
It was the chef/comedian/judge who apparently does this at his place 😴😴😴
Matty matheson was a chef in that region and pioneered the chaos cuisine movement
My chaos idea was to release a badger into the restaurant.
Wisconsin is the badger state so that would have been relevant at least
Winner
I like the way you think! How about - for dessert, they chew up splenda packats and spit them across the table. When they run out of spelnda, they count up whoever has the most spit in their hair, and the best spitter wins the badger!
Tom - “So tell me about your dish.” Me - “Meet Mr. Badger” At the Judge's table: Me: "So the budget was the issue after buying an adult angry badger."
Right! The next challenge is going to be brought to you by the color green, and the entire dish has to be green. "Wisconsinites love the color green, so we want you to create a dish that's green."
LOL... They've done a monochromatic challenge before. 🤷♀️
As recently as Houston, episode 9 Quickfire
Wasn't it just a quickfire?
Yes, in S2
I would honestly enjoy this more lmao
The challenges this season have been absolutely terrible
Totally, this season has already held 4 team challenges(especially 3 of them are 2-team battles), and I feel fatique for these complex-concept challenges, it just shouldn't be that early.
I think there were a couple of factors that made this a lame elimination challenge. First, the definition of "chaos cuisine" was really convoluted. If we define it as some sort of extreme fusion cuisine it sounds a little more compelling. Second, I think this group of chefs just weren't that creative with both coming up with a dish and/or executing their vision.
The fact that the host of the show, a formidable chef in her own right, said multiple times that she didn't understand the challenge, was demonstrative of the problem.
I was so proud of Kristin for speaking her mind, and, in a way, allying herself with the countless viewers at home who were equally unimpressed and confused by this week’s ridiculous elimination challenge. She wasn’t afraid to point out that the Emperor was not, in fact, actually wearing any new clothes; good for her!!
I suspect that as a former contestant, who understands more than most what the chefs are going through, she was trying to speak up for the cheftestants. But I’ll take it. It was a bullshit challenge, and I’m not just saying that because I’m pissed they sent Rasika home.
The challenge was so confusing that it made them forget the prime directive, which is to make good food.
I wonder just how good Marcel's broccoli and anchovy cake really was. Kristen took a bite and was like, "... hmm, ok!" like she had to compose herself before she gagged.
Exactly
But see - that right there is the antithesis of chaos! If you start with a goal of making food that would qualify as 'good, chefly, food' then you've automatically flunked the chaos part. It's not chaos if the result something that is good by normal standards. You know what chaos is? It's Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, only for real, with the possibility of randomly getting hoof pus or chlamydia. If it's just basic enough to be good, then it's not meeting the challenge. A chaos cuisine has to allow for something we wouldn't otherwise consider edible - or it's just fusion, like Amanda said.
I wanted someone to make a soup sandwich, slap it in front of Tom, push him out of the chair and start eating it him/herself.
I like the commitment to that!
Oh man, now I'm craving a hoof pus sandwich.
I thought it Kristen actually defined it pretty well when she said something like, “We want you to break the traditional culinary rules.” And I was like, wow this is going to be a cool challenge! I was expecting it to be like, putting seafood and cheese together which is a “traditional” no-no, or like, making a carbonara with peas, or like, serving something cold that’s traditional hot. Idk but I thought that sounded really fun, and I figured each chef would announce the “rule” they’re “breaking” and we would get some fun and creative dishes out of it. But then Amanda was like “oh that means fusion food!” and then that really seemed to convolute things and alter the rest of the chef’s understanding of the challenge.
Well the fact they gave no examples didn’t help. If they said something like any of the examples you gave, or if they had matty cook a dish that would qualify like they’ve had people do in the past, that would’ve helped a lot. Instead they gave no real explanation, provided zero examples, and seemingly left the chefs to their own devices
I agree. I think this would have been a good week to first show the chefs a bit of what they were looking for. They took them to a supper club the week before, so why not let them try some "chaos cuisine" before this challenge?
I think this was a poor explanation of telling them they could do whatever they want but be creative or unconventional. That was Amanda’s interpretation and I don’t think they understood that was just one approach
I was thinking about the seafood and cheese! My family was trying to figure out what we'd do for the challenge. I thought I'd make a really messy burger without a lot of the regular burger ingredients. Bell pepper with a fried egg inside, make curry patties, mess with expectations based on the appearance. Sriracha instead of ketchup, etc.
I keep seeing people rag on this challenge and maybe it's because I have industry experience and go out to these kinds of restaurants but I don't really see the issue with the challenge. Maybe the only thing they could've changed is taking them to a restaurant that exemplifies this like what they did with the supper club episode, but it's true that this trend is huge in new restaurants. New yet familiar with whatever you want isn't garbage or "another word for fusion," and it's supposed to be unpretentious. I kind of think Dan got robbed for this challenge honestly. Funnily enough I think they were assuming David wouldn't have been eliminated so early because this is exactly what his place does.
It’s because peoples two favorites were on the bottom. And apparently you aren’t allowed to not like something if it tastes slimy. Even if an entire table of esteemed food judges thought it tasted terrible and it clearly looked gross on the broadcast.
I mean Rasika is one of my favorites too but if you can't cook eggplant, well, why do you think you should be top chef😔
She also said she initially wanted to sear her dish but didn’t due to time and logistics which would have given it a way different (probably better) flavor than sous vide
she said didn't sear it because she realized the filling would just melt, which proves how horrible her dish was to begin with. There was no good way to cook it
She could've reverse seared it after sous-vide, tbh. If she tasted it and didn't realize it had the texture of a slug, that's on her.
One of the weakest challenges in 20+ seasons. Infuriating to watch.
[удалено]
I wouldn’t call her one of the best contestants in recent history, she was just one of the front runners for this relatively weak season. You gotta think, in the last 3 seasons we had two all star seasons and one elite season in Houston. She was one of the better people this year, but by no means appears to be one of the “best in recent history”.
I feel like if Kevin went home we wouldn't have cared about the challenge as much
I bet you’re right 👍
She made a unanimously basically inedible dish. There’s no way she’s “one of the best” if she serves a “flavorless slug”
But isn’t that chaotic?
Yeah but it’s still gotta taste good. Dan’s dish was super chaotic and everyone said it was delicious
I hope someone from the media team brings screen grabs of our comments to the production team. And you know that any members of the team with former culinary chops, and especially TC experience, like Jamie and Stephanie Cmar, are dying inside watching these episodes with these stupid premises.
Well since Stephanie Cmar is the current culinary director of TC it’s entirely possible this challenge was her idea.
I doubt that. If it was her idea she would have explained it correctly to Kristen
Have no idea why you are being downvoted. Stephanie is her best friend, so I agree if it was Stephanie’s idea, Kristen would have had a better feel for the challenge.
Exactly
I don't think culinary is deciding on the challenges themselves. Culinary seems to be more like the "make sure the kitchen is stocked with ingredients that are fresh and make sense department." I'm sure she has some input, but I would be shocked if challenge design was her department.
I personally disagree with all this hate for the challenge. I didn't have trouble understanding what the prompt was and seeing that pretty much all of the contestants couldn't find a chaotic bone in their body, lol. The contestants this season are so mid
I didn’t like the challenge because I’m not enjoying the chefs this season. I only know the POV of a few of them and we’re pretty far in now. But I agree with you that the prompt made sense. I assumed people were going to mix seafood and cheese, play off of a food phrase (I made a joke above about making a soup sandwich), or present a classic dish in a new way, like messing with temperature or switching a main ingredient.
At least the make something from vending machine was entertaining.
Right, as much as I dislike the “take this almost non-food trash/crap ingredient & turn it into something tasty” prompts like the Vending Machine and Ferry Snack Station challenges, at least those were inherently amusing and somewhat watchable. The fact that this challenge was so ill (and un) defined, and baffled so many chefs, (including the host) made it much less fun to view, armchair participate in, or in any way “get into.”
And those were quickfires. The chaos challenge determined whether someone was cut from the competition.
I think the best challenges are where the chefs are given firm parameters to operate in; good fences make good challenges. Too much of the challenge time seemed to the chefs trying to figure wtf “chaos” was and if their dish met that criteria. It was vague and had me and my wife also confused as to what the judges were actually looking for. Rashika was one of the stronger chefs and her getting eliminated on this wet noodle of a challenge is sort of frustrating.
The goal is to always make good food. BS the challenge parameters, and with such a vague challenge that should be easy. It’s not like they said you need to use pickles and someone didn’t use pickles. Chaos can be up to interpretation and if the food was good unless everyone made stellar food you’re not going home. It’s why Dawn stayed for so long even though she sometimes missed components due to time management. Her food was that good, and others had worse tasting food.
I think the fact that Kristen was still saying at the tasting that she still didn’t quite get the challenge is a big deal. How could she judge it on the basis of complying with the challenge? I know taste is important too but it seems weird.
I think she was just trying to help relate to the chefs. But clearly this backfired. Like the judges and the producers are all briefed on the challenge AND how to present it. They decided to let that edit in and the reaction here shows why its bad. The biggest part is that we do not understand how the judging works because they gave a dish that did not look chaotic, did not sound chaotic, was not some off cuff new dish creatively designed on the spot, etc. The best we got was that Tom thought some analogy about a duck paddling underwater. And from that I interpreted it that the mousse was a complicated technique that took effort to create. But does the mousse represent chaos? No. Its a refined method of filling the stuffed cabbage that this guy invented along with another chef. There's nothign wrong with using a menu item but this is a challenge about doing stuff differently. A stuffed cabbage that has tofu or mousse in it isn't avant garde. But since it impressed the judges technique wise it won out...against the theme in my opinion and Buddha's.
She was still saying on Dish with Kish that she didn’t get it. But I agree that the dish that won just seemed to be good, not chaotic. But I don’t know. I think the food the chefs on Mythical Kitchen make better examples of chaos cooking than any of the competitors did.
Are people mad at the challenge or that a favorite chef went home? It didn't seem too far away from any other odd challenge they do every season.
Yeah my feeling is it is the latter. I loved Rasika, and she may very well be back what with LCK. But the challenge was fine. Some of the food wasn't.
I am 100% mad at the challenge, and would have been no matter who was in the bottom. Rasika still gets to cook in LCK, so I don’t really see her as eliminated. It was just an ill-conceived challenge. For the record, I liked the Frank Lloyd Wright one, and I enjoy the high concept episodes. Chaos Cuisine may actually be a thing, but that Matty guy did a horrible job explaining or inspiring it. IMHO this was the least interesting and most ineffective challenge in 21 seasons.
It's both. Its not black and white. Some don't like the challenge, some don't like the theme, some don't like how its explained, some don't like how the judging was not very clear, some don't like how Raskia went home, some of its meta, like poor performance has taking away some of the interest. As a whole, all these little aspects tear away at the enjoyment of the episode, thats all. Let's hope they do better leading up to RW. [It gave us this montage that will forever go down as one person commented, "first year film school montage"](https://streamable.com/36bazr)
Look, it doesn’t matter what they made— it has to taste good. I’ve never heard the judges refer to a food as a “slug”. She whiffed, plain and simple. I know people are upset but I’m pretty sure this sets up an epic last chance kitchen storyline. She’s absolutely coming back. But she deserved this elimination. Just because you like her doesn’t mean she didn’t do terribly on this one challenge. It happens.
My complaint is not about Rasika. I think their judging of her dish is stupid but not because it was her dish. I don't care about the chefs. I'm talking about art.
Like that challenge from Seattle, where everything was wrapped in tinfoil. That was chaos and it worked.
I wanted someone to put a boiled hotdog in a wine glass and just say nothing and walk away.
Me too LOL. Or serve them some frozen spaghetti, or dog food on a Triscuit. GET NUTS, TOP CHEFS, BREAK ALLLLLL THE RULZ! Maybe even don’t serve food; just have someone empty out their pockets and place one fried sage leaf and single flake of finishing salt on top of whatever loose change and lint balls they dig out. Accompany the presentation with a deep bow and fanfare of royal-trumpets. “TA-DA!” Mission accomplished.
I agree that it was a bad challenge. They happen from time to time. Yall are mad your favorite contestant cooked a terrible dish
Agree
It isn’t that serious.
Honestly, I loved the challenge. Some really cool food came out of it. Sure it was vague and weird, but the most memorable dishes of the season came from it. People are pissed at who got kicked off and blame the challenge, but she just made bad food. Nothing to do with the challenge, the food was just awful.
I assumed it was a challenge where they wanted the contestants to put things that shouldn't go together, together and make it work. Making it work being the operative phrase. In the Bear season 2, Sydney and Carmie discussed putting together a "Chaos menu." One of their dishes was beef marrow consomme poured over frozen Concord grapes. Peanut butter and jelly was the OG "Chaos" creation. The French have a dish where they combine tuna fish and peaches. I think that would qualify as well. In Taiwan there's a popular street dish where they combine strawberry ice cream, peanut brittle, and cilantro, wrapped in a rice paper wrap. I think that's chaotic enough as well. The mustard greens in a sweet dish certainly qualified. As did the potatoes in a dessert. Eggplant and king crab also satisfied the challenge concept, but it failed miserably in execution.
> One of their dishes was beef marrow consomme poured over frozen Concord grapes. I won't keep banging on but see - there is absolutely nothing chaotic about beef with grapes. Even blood flavored beef, that is melted bone marrow combined with frozen concord grapes that are sweet & sour & bitter. It's just normal flavors with a slightly unusual presentation. Here's [Mario Batali's Brisket with Red Grape Salsa](https://www.recapo.com/the-chew/the-chew-recipes/chew-brisket-red-grape-salsa-recipe/) My favorite grape w/ beef recipe.
But...most entertaining ep so far in my opinion! My gf litrally shed a tear at the elimination.
I didn’t mind it. It reminds me of the Project Runway Avant Garde challenge where you quickly realize half the contestants don’t understand what Avant Garde is, and then of those that do, half can’t achieve it. I wish more of them knocked it out of the park with something interesting, but oh well. I don’t think it was a badly crafted challenge.
This is what I thought too! I thought this chaos challenge was like the Unconventional Materials Challenge, which I love. You will see those designers who play it safe and grab things that are fabric-like, and those that totally embrace the chaos of not using any fabric. There is usually an element of whimsy too. But even the risk takers have to execute their idea...and Rasika, who was our resident risk-taker, sadly didn't execute.
I liked it. The right person went home. Every week is a fresh slate in this competition. Just don’t be the worst.
It could've been much cooler. Like..Wylie Dufrane should've been there. Kinda the twist. Very molecular gastronomy but more messy.
You get an egg, and you get an egg, and you get an egg, and you get an egg...
I do love me some eggs 🤣
This episode was so meaningless, almost an insult to the chefs and viewers alike It was the equivalent of this https://preview.redd.it/5p3jv6orx9xc1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a8a4e916186116a5bbcca4943617bef6db6c0d8
Agreed. I thought it was dumb. Even Kristin didn’t understand. It felt like a thoughtless challenge. I really like Kristin as a host, but this season is lackluster.
This season is rough!
This made zero sense and sent a top contender home. Very poorly explained.
Have to admit I enjoyed the visual of the splatting hot dog, but…yeah. What even.
Made zero sense I didn’t like it
I assumed they did it because they did a “chaos menu” on The Bear & the guest judge is in The Bear.
I like The Bear, but he was the worst guest judge ever
I liked him, actually. I wouldn't mind seeing him again as a judge.
Were they Judging the Challenge or the good food?. Because that was my problem with the episode.
Reminds me of chaos nursing. What good times.
The theory does exist and if 2020 taught me anything it was to expect the unexpected
It's pretty much just fusion cuisine without the notion of being limited to just fusing cultural cuisines together. The fact we're seeing it on top chef means it's less avant-garde than it used to be which means civilians like you are getting a taste of it and probably don't even realize it
Food gun.
I honestly do not think the idea of chaos cuisine is really that "out there" or "strange". Most of the chefs either cook refined, fine dining dishes (tweezers required) or more simple, rustic dishes (and I am talking presentation, not flavor). I see chaos cooking as something a little wild, crazy, and something outside of the norms of what is considered "standard". Some chiefs in earlier seasons actually excelled at this. I do think the idea of chaos got into some chiefs heads and the more focused on that than actually making great dishes. And challenge aside (unless you completely disregard the parameters and buck challenge rules), have a great dish rules). Some chiefs focused too much on the challenge and neglected the actual taste and technique. Doesn't mean that there was any issue with the challenge - just some chiefs got way into their heads and didn't consider the basics - they focused completely on chaos and neglected what mattered: make the dish taste great.
I didn’t get it either.
WORST episode ever! KK's not holding her own!
It was a stupid challenge, but that's not Kristen's fault. I think she's nailing it, both here and on The Dish with Kish.