Time for a Top Chef Personality Check
Time for a Top Chef Personality Check by Roxanne McDonald
 |
The new Top Chef promises some very interesting personality clashes and crashes this season. |
As one producer of another reality show series (the fated to go the way of one hit wonder history, For Love or Money) revealed, the best reality TV contestants are those who are extroverted, more than extraverted, egotistical, and beyond egotistical.
Those who love being the center of attention, those who think they know more than they do, and those who think they are greater than they are make for very good anti-heroes on shows where we viewers look forward to watching them flounder and flop.
So it is with the new season of Top Chef (Top Chef 2, first episode, “Into the Fire”, airing on Bravo on October 18th). The cheftestants are an entertaining
collective of every personality this side of psychosis, with a few stable, serene, and sure-winning ones in the background:
The egomaniac: Marcel Vigneron, the twenty-six year old has revealed himself right off the knife as a know-it-all. For example, defining his style, he calls what he does “avant garde molecular gastronomy….” If that isn’t a mouthful, a bellyful, he has also announced his winning skills, denounced the abilities of half the other chefs (who have many more years and experiences than he), and has been—as the anti-hero inevitably has—to the bottom four already. Hmph.
The bully: Frank Terzoli established his persona within the first few minutes of the new season, keeping with his nickname, “Frankie the Bull.” Though this chef is named for what he says is his ability to “bang out 100 amazing dishes per night, while others are still fiddling around with their presentations,” he has already defined his ferociousness by analogizing their living quarters to “cell block H;” figured out a way to alienate the unwanted roommate; and threatened Marcel by saying that if he (Marcel) ever touches his stuff he will beat him until his own mother doesn’t recognize him. Hmmm. Methinks Frank and Chef Ramsay would get along just fine. Riiight.
The closet prima donna: While this title typically implies spoiled brat tendencies, for Elia Aboumrad it suggests class, skill, and experience that out-challenges the challenges. Note, however, that while she presents a face that could at any moment turn a snooty nose up, she also keeps her deeper reactions to herself: while the others pontificate, for example, over the amount of garlic in Marcel’s frog leg dish as overpowering, she likes the dish and merely—instead of refuting—gives herself a frustrated rub. Hence the closeted part of her persona, though it is likely that as the “Latin firecracker” hailing from years of work and schooling in numerous prestigious culinary institutes, she will not always keep quiet or calm.
The cheery but tough chef: She smiles. A lot. And she is open and assertive and supportive of others. But Josie Smith-Malave has also indicated she will be pushed or cheated or bugged only so much before her tough side comes a roarin’. I see Josie, the established sous chef from Marlow and Sons, as a powerful lioness on the Serengeti: she is doing her thing, minding her own business, and then some pest will come along…and…snarl!
The home girl: Complete with cowgirl hat and down home recipes, Mia Gaines-Alt is a maternal, nurturing, skilled force to be reckoned with. She makes food the way they do down home, has already impressed the hell out of the judges, and doesn’t appear to give or take any flack. Been there, done that Mia looks like a sturdy competitor, so watch out all.
The one to keep away from sharp knives: While this title should go to the crazier ones, we have to give it temporarily to the gentle and skilled
but somehow awkward under pressure (facing the first non-pastry challenges as a pastry chef did it) Marisa Churchill—who sliced the hell out of her finger during the first episode. Guess the notion of using her sexuality to her advantage was utterly useless here. But then again, a fellow competitor (male) came to her rescue, didn’t he?
The one who will drink more than he uses in the recipe: The first thing that strikes one who knows kitchens is how Michael Midgely is depicted in the Top Chef photos: he wears flip flops. Hmmm, last I knew, the first thing you do is cover those feet in the kitchen. Then again, this cavalier line cook who hails from Wine and Roses in Lodi, California doesn’t appear to be the type 1) who will do exactly what he is pushed to conform to do; and 2) who cares what you think. He may care enough what the judges will have to say, but otherwise, leave him to his hard work and hearty drinking habits, lest you incur the sarcastic jokes of which he will make you the butt.
Many other Top Cheftestants, quieter, more dignified, and/or less visible in episode one of series 2, will prove to be contenders with multi-dimensional personalities. There’s the more humble (and hunkier) Sam Talbot (who won the first immunity challenge but didn’t peep beyond a sweet bowing thank you); there is the opinionated but discreet Ilan Hall (who has a countenance that reminds me of that of last year’s winner, Harold Dieterle); and there’s the cooking instructor, Otto Borsich (who is like an absent-minded professor thus far but who likely has some lessons to teach if not learn).
And we will discuss them later, when they speak up, act out, or throw down!
No Comments »
No comments yet.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
