RESTAURANT WARS, PART 2

Can’t say I didn’t see it coming.

Dale’s assessment the Restaurant April team of Casey, Brian, C.J. and Tre was pretty spot on. Last week, having missed the first 15 minutes of the show and turning it on and see the Restaurant April squad, I turned to my girlfriend and said, “That team is loaded.” For all intents and purposes, the food coming out of that kitchen should have been spectacular and it wasn’t. Not once, but twice.

Trying to figure out who to blame for that failure was the major task handed to our judges this week. Should it be C.J., who picked the team and then did a spectacular job of dodging any responsibilty? Or should it be Tre, whose salmon dish made Ted Allen jerk back in his chair as if he were being electrocuted?

Well it was Tre. And having figured that this week, we would see one of the heavy hitters go home, I gotta say, I’m not terribly disappointed. Do I think Tre was one of the best chefs in the competition? I absolutely do but maybe he tried to shoulder too much of the workload given C.J.’s complete and utter failure to lead a team that he selected. There are lots of things that team could have done differently. Instead of having Tre handling three courses in a five course dinner, have Brian make SOMETHING. ANYTHING. I’ll leave Casey alone on her dull knife and dull-er still knife skills. Did she not understand that ‘quickfire’ means things need to happen in an expedited fashion? Evidently not, by the way she was methodically cutting that onion as if she were performing an autopsy.

On the other side, I was really impressed with Sara M. who really stepped up this week and took over the kitchen for the Garage team. Howie continues to prove that he is an absolute moron and Sara probably, and unfortunately, saved him from elimination by telling him to redo his lamb chops, which I believe were still “Baaaaa-ing.” I lambasted Sara for being the competition’s weakest chef remaining but she proved her value this week and stepped up.

I will have to say that my hands-down favorite moment this week was when Sara informed Hung that they were cooking for the eliminated Sara and Joey, Hung’s response was “Who’s Sara and Joey?” And then when being told who they were, he responded, “nice.” Priceless stuff.

Given the previews, I have no idea who is going home next week and given what happened this week, it really could be anyone. I hope it’s Howie, who’s nonstop posturing and know-it-all attitude combined with his subpar performance in the kitchen, is wearing thin on yours truly. This could be the week where the sweaty Floridian is finally sent packing. Fingers crossed.

As always, Bravo’s bloggers have something to say about the second half of Restaurant Wars, including a very strong opinion from season 1 winner Harold Dieterle.

• Tom Colicchio
  
• Anthony Bourdain
• Ted Allen

__________

No, seriously… 

Chalk this up to things you wish you hadn’t read.

Croatia to build potato theme park.

__________

Some high school kids in Colorado just got a very good quarterback coach.

Pete Kendall looks to ruin another locker room on the eastern seaboard.

IU to remember Coach Hep at home opener.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach says the Big Ten is at a very important crossroads.  Easiest schedules of ‘07.

Was lashing out at Tiki the best thing Eli could have done for himself in the Giants locker room?

New York Daily News’ Mitch Lawrence calls Stephon Marbury’s defense of Michael Vick, “sick.”

Donovan McNabb seeking answers about Jeremiah Trotter’s release.

Ben Allen to transfer from IU.  This is a little inside baseball but I never thought Allen was tough enough to play in the Big Ten. He was slow, frankly non-athletic at times and didn’t show he could be an effective low-post defender or scorer for that matter. When you’re 6′11,” you really ought to have some sort of an inside game and Ben Allen didn’t. I think the fact that he was from Australia and was recruited to IU shortly after Andrew Bogut became the #1 overall pick made him appealing to the IU fanbase but his game never matched the hype. 

Peyton Manning takes up for this little bro.

Interesting piece in The State (Columbia, S.C.) about how Steve Spurrier and Tommy Bowden set goals for their respective teams.

Golden Bears eying revenge after last year’s blowout at Rocky Top.

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart on five moments that will shape the SEC this year.

There is still no word on who will start at QB for Florida State.

The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel thinks recently-named Sooners starter Sam Bradford is on a very short leash.

__________

Well-rounded news… 

American Gladiators set to make primetime return.

Justice League flick to be motion capture? Barf.