Agree about Nina!! Another thing that's interesting is that she seemed to start to fade right about the same time that she stopped barking at people to suck a dick. It seemed pretty abrupt, if I recall. Jeez, I do hope production didn't sit her down and suggest that she cool it with the dick thing…confident as she…

You're so right about Shirley's not having made one single bad dish this entire season. My memory is pretty bad, but right off the top of my head, the ONLY other chef in TC history about whom I would say that was Mike Voltaggio.

Me, too. I'd be willing to bet several hundred thousand dollars that Nick voted against anything that was even remotely Mexican. Because, you know, Carlos cooks "like a slob" (sic) and he cooks "like an asshole" (no sic).

And why the great big fat deal about Carlos's predilection for cooking Mexican food? To the best of my recollection, he always met the parameters of each challenge, albeit with Mexican influences. In a contest that will change someone's life, and deposit $125K into his/her bank account to boot, are these guys…

I hear you! But what happens when "to the chef's specifications" doesn't correlate "to the diner's desires"? Surely the chef couldn't or shouldn't be so presumptuous as to think that his/her opinion of salt is/should be the universal taste in salt. Call me crazy, but when I'm paying $42 for a plate of food, I'm…

Couldn't agree more. When I cook a big pot of chili for friends and/or family, I know going into it that at least 3 people are going to say "My GOD, what were you thinking??? This is so HOT!!" and 4 other people are not going to say a thing but will quietly "do something" to it - which is perfectly fine by me. And…

Oh, I dunno. I think sometimes it's merely a function of how you were raised - or whatever one's mom plonked down onto the table and whether or not one's family always salted everything as a matter of course. I definitely know people who do that - on every single dish that requires a fork (not on hot dogs, in other…

Jeez, I thought the "putting salt on a dish is an insult to the chef" was an 80s thing. I think that's nuts.

Kitty cats. Or maybe that's iodide.

I so vividly remember whenever that was that salt was deemed evil and that it would cause everything from seizures to death, overnight. And I actually stopped using it for a couple of years; the absolute worst saltless dish was scrambled eggs - that was tough. My family thought I was nuts. ANYway, I quickly…

One thing that blew me away (many years ago when I learned it) was the unbelievable difference in the taste of cooked pasta (between a pot that's had salt added to the water and a pot that's filled with "unsullied" water). I don't like Anne Burrell at ALL (argh) but do sort of agree with her practice of adding about…

I know that salt is incredibly polarizing in the world of chefing….I was under the impression, though, that when they object as strenuously as they did last night, it was due to the fact that there was pretty much a complete ABSENCE of salt. Which would be a problem for me. The amount of salt in every dish is of…

I love how most of the posts that express some sort of displeasure with Nick automatically earn a downvote.

Completely agree. Can't remember the last time I had such an incredible, borderline unreasonable distaste (tee hee) for a TC contestant and I'm thoroughly pissed that he stayed. They have DEFINITELY eliminated chefs, even at this late stage, for an absence of salt; huge pet peeve of Tom's.

One of my huge fantasies is having a sleep-over weekend, all of us in our jammies sitting cross-legged in front of the fire, and the only two guests are Jacques Pepin and Tim Gunn. And Henry, Molly, Don and Joe (dogs and cats). Can you IMAGINE???!!

I'm with you re: Stephanie's adorableness. I know that the Food Network has given "non-winners" their own shows in the past, and that this is the execrable Bravo, but I would definitely watch Stephanie were she to land a show of her own. Her self-deprecating humor is often downright hilarious, and she can certainly…

Agreed. My favorite challenge on ANY cooking show has always been "make a stellar omelette". LOVE that challenge, and agree with whoever it was who said that it's the only REAL challenge there is, in chefdom. Jacques Pepin maybe?

I guess I probably do, too…but am so afraid Nina might. She's clearly very talented but jesus, if I have to listen to her suggest that someone suck a dick ONE MORE TIME, I'll have to just punch a pillow.

There's very little about Nick that DOESN'T annoy me, and I'm hard to annoy. I mean, jeez!! Get over yourself and see if you can muster up a smile every 2 -3 weeks. Come to think of it, I honestly can't even picture the guy's mug with a smile on it. Primarily because I've not seen it. The pained, hangdog affect…

I dunno…the impression I get of Gail is that she's not very coercible, by production or by anyone. Gently or not.