Top Chef Power Rankings (06/30/10)

Welcome to this week’s Top Chef Power Rankings

Before I dive into the rankings, I have to comment on one thing about all these chefs. Why is everyone so terrified of desserts? They had two friggin hours to make a pie. I could make a pie better than most of them could. Even without a recipe book. This show is called Top Chef. A chef should be able to cook any and everything. Yes everyone has their specialties, but really, come on. Some of the best Chefs in the shows history have not been afraid of desserts. The first one who comes to mind is Stefan who embraced desserts on top of all his other spectacular cooking. A true top chef for me should be able to make everything from salad to dessert with everything in between.

On to the rankings


Top Shelf


1. Angelo Sosa



Angelo is still leading our group of chefs. He finished high for the first time without winning this week. His asian style food has been a hit with the judges so far. After last week’s bottom finish, he said he was surprised how quickly people were thrown under the bus, and because of this he is going to shy away from other people. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.


2. Kenny Gilbert



Kenny finally won something this past week after finish 2nd in the first three challenges. He won the quickfire with what looked to be a tasty pie. He didn’t impress the judges with his picnic meal. Even though he had immunity, I don’t think he would have ended up on the bottom. He should get an assist for the win from Arnold whom he showed how to start a grill.


Best of the Rest


3. Kelly Liken



I was tempted to have elimination challenge winner Arnold jump past Kelly third, but I don’t think he deserves the slot yet. One week after coming off the elimination challenge win, Kelly finished in the top of the quick fire with her simple chocolate pie. Her elimination challenge was a good but not great that got her going on to the next round.


4. Arnold Myint



Is one of our biggest mover this week jumping to 4th. Arnold was on the winning team last week and won the challenge this week. His lamb meatballs looked and sounded delicious. I actually am tempted to go make some myself this holiday weekend. I am starting to feel like Arnold can go far in this competition.


Middle of the Pack


5. Kevin Sbraga



Kevin ended up on the bottom for the first time this competition. His Puerto Rican inspired picinic was not a hit with the judges. He said everyone he knows would have loved it, but the judges wanted more. I never felt like Kevin was in any danger of being sent home; Kevin should be able to take this criticism and bounce back, but we will see.


6. Alex Reznik



Alex had a rough start to the episode. He felt like he had a good pie, but the judges called it more of a quiche. He was in the bottom for the quickfire, but bounced back and had a solid elimination challenge.


7. Ed Cotton



Ed had a less then stellar quick fire with a pie that was all over the place. He put to much thought into his dish and had too much going on. He followed up this poor performance by cooking one of the top elimination challenge dishes. I actually thought the judges were going to pick him to win, which would have been big for my sleeper pick’s chances.


8. Amanda Baumgarten



I don’t want to move Amanda too high from her top 4 finish. I know she cooked a good meal, but she doesn’t have the focus, organization to win this competition. She has spent too much time of the show scrambling and rushing around. This is eventually going to lead to a catastrophic mistake that will send her packing.


9. Tiffany Derry



I actually wanted to group these next three chefs together because they all have similar track records, have made good, but not outstanding dishes. They have all showed a little bit of humor and some decent commentary, but haven’t really distinguished themselves. Tiffany gets the nod over the next two based on the fact she was on the winning team in week 2’s episode


10. Andrea Curto



Andrea falls in next because she was on the 2nd place team in week 2’s episode.


11. Tamesha Warren



Tamesha falls in third because she was on one of the bottom two teams in week 2’s episode.


12. Lynne Gigiotti



I don’t see Lynne lasting long in the competition. She has almost no personality, and her dishes haven’t been super creative, which is a requirement of the show. Also, I feel like the only thing she ever says is, “I’m the old one, but I can still cook.”


13. Timothy Dean



Timmy Timmy Timmy. I actually think he is one of the better chef’s this season, but he is not producing food the judges like. This makes him our biggest drop of the week. His pork two ways seemed like a good idea, but couldn’t pull the dish together. This was his 2nd bottom place in the first three weeks, which is not a good way to start. Like Kevin, I never felt like he was in any danger of being sent home, but another bottom finish, and the judges might not be as kind


Chopping Block


Only one member this week, but it seems clear to me who will be the next to go home


14. Stephen Hopcraft



Stephen thought he nailed his dish this week, saying the fish and bacon was cooked perfectly. The judges couldn’t disagree more. Tom actually hated other things on his plate worse than his fish. I think that is the biggest concern for Stephen right now, if he likes his dishes, but the judges hate them, how is he going to move on? There is some hope, Stephen did finish in the top of the quickfire challenge, so maybe all hope is not lost.