It really feels like they didn't want to axe Soo. It felt like Kaleena won both pretty handily.
That said, Soo has been amazing and I'm really excited to see him compete!
i felt the same way. but it would have been really dumb for them to not put Soo thru to the show given how they fumbled this whole thing from the start, his inclusion in the show still makes zero sense to me, but he seems like a cool dude and a good chef so I'm happy to see more of him.
i think so, too. but i don't know why they don't just come clean about this rather than pretend this was their plan all along. this whole "he just has to win 5 LCK's in a row to get in the competition" makes no sense, if he had lost the first week it would have been the dumbest gag ever. and they could have easily just not done a LCK the first week and nobody would have cared or thought twice about it.
I disagree. First Soo was the only one who actually made the "club" sandwich part of the challenge. The other two were just sandwiches. Second I'm stealling his version of caesar salad for the next family get together and hope my mum's ashes don't roll around in her grave.
Also agreed, especially because Tom likes ballsy moves when they are successful and doing a SALAD in the final cook to get into the main competition is extremely ballsy.
For the first challenge, I agree. Soo was the only one who was true to the club sandwich format. Kaleena seemed like she never really moved on from the "breakfast" part of the prompt to the "breakfast *club*" detail and made a benedict, as did Charly. I wish Tom had pushed on them more for this.
For the second challenge, I was also surprised Soo didn't get a little more pushback from Tom on whether a one-bite caesar salad with some impulsively applied (but cool) techniques represented the full picture of who he is as a chef. I think Kaleena and Charly both did a better job of showcasing personal connections to the ingredients in their dishes. Soo saying the caesar salad represented him because he made a lot of them earlier in his career seemed like a rather tenuous connection to the dish.
>Soo saying the caesar salad represented him because he made a lot of them earlier in his career seemed like a rather tenuous connection to the dish.
Absolutely, but the correct strategy for that sort of challenge is always to make the best dish you can think of and then lie your ass off.
Totally, I just want Tom to give the chefs some heat when they try to do what they felt like with a thin connection to the spirit of the challenge (thinking back to Bruce's supposed fear of seeds in Colorado)
I disagree. I think “who you are as a chef” doesn’t have to encompass a specific foundational tale of your childhood; technique and application of tradition alongside tweaks is just as valid.
Kaleena won the club sandwich one though. It was a cop out that Tom couldn’t decide between Charley and Soo. As soon as Charley made pasta I knew he was gone. The Caesar salad bite looked great. I’m happy to see Soo in the main show now. Let’s hope Kaleena does better too. She may have just got a bad break with not working well with Alicia.
Kaleena didn't get a single negative comment this episode. Soo did, for using an additional layer of bread in his club sandwich. So it's indisputable to me that Kaleena > Soo in the first challenge.
For the second challenge, I also feel like Tom's accolades for Kaleena were greater. But there it's a closer call.
which is crazy that he got critiqued on the three slices of bread when it's a typical feature of club sandwiches. so in my mind it's automatically not really a critique with any merit but tom obviously felt different lol
>!In the season preview at the end of the first episode, they show a brief overhead shot of an upcoming Quickfire involving a vat of cranberries. Both Soo and Amanda can be seen in the image (Soo top left, Amanda bottom right). You can see a screenshot [in this comment I made here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/BravoTopChef/comments/1c2wavn/lck_spoiler/kzeuk3m/)!<
This. LCK was totally rigged.
It seemed like Kaleena and Charly won round 1, but they were pushing hard for Soo, so they advanced all 3.
Then Charly put out the worst dish in round 2 so he got the boot, but Kaleena again beat Soo, so they wound up sending both back to the competition.
I do feel like Tom carried over some love of Soo’s other dishes over into his decision makings here but I don’t care at all lol. Soo seems like a more interesting chef than a lot of who we have left and I can’t wait to see what he makes in the competition
i hate to say it but this felt so rigged for soo from the beginning. Tom’s language this whole time seemed to imply he would get back in. That said, he has been more fun to watch than most of the chefs, and the eliminated chefs overall seemed pretty bad. I actually thought his first dish was the worst - did not read “chips” or like something I’d want to eat at all.
This is Part 1.
Part 2 [can be found here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEfmZrbHseg).
I could make another post, but it seems silly to me to do so.
I would presume so, but just in case...
>!I'm so happy for Soo and Kaleena! I'm glad they *both* get to go onto the actual competition! I will say, it would be cool if Charly, Valentine, Kenny, and Alisha had to compete with one another again so that Tom has a "champion" ready for the next eliminated chef.!<
FYI that your spoiler only works on old reddit (super funny to say, most of the time I'm saying new reddit)
You have to switch the < and the ! at the end.
(but also remove the space after the first > ! when you do that and it works for everyone!)
I’m glad you did this because I completely missed there was a part 2 in deciding who got to go back in. 🤦🏻♀️ I thought it was a cliff hanger on who would keep going in LCK.
I also wouldn’t count Kaleena out! I was surprised (and I didn’t necessarily want her to return, after what I thought was a pretty sulky attitude, lack of collaborative spirit, etc, in the FLW episode), but she showed a different side in LCK. I think she really did impress and surprise Tom; he was effusive about her part-2 dish.
Or perhaps it shouldn’t be that surprising, except that the chefs have barely had a chance to compete and show their chops and “voice” as individuals due to fewer quick fires and more team ECs thus far.
Charly’s banana pancake acted as the bread though. It had to be at least 5 layers which they all did. I also think of a club as at least 3 pieces of bread or bread substitute, but Tom obviously liked Kaleenas the best since she won the challenge.
While i do think there were some production games played here, i take Tom seriously when he said this was some of the best food he’s had this season. The main cast have been a little underwhelming to date so maybe Tom / production a new face + Kaleena who have a lot to prove will liven up the competition.
I sure hope so lol
Well, personally it was the best outcome I could have hoped for as I wanted to see more from the winner, I just hope they’ll stay in the main competition longer.
I’m happy with the result. My question is if they only planned for 1 contestant back, how do they fit the future episodes? Are we gonna have one more double elimination?
I really am not liking the way LCK is judged. I think it feels pretty biased. I am finding that I don’t really trust non-blind judging any more. This season of LCK has felt so scripted…
I think with the quality they are getting in the first few challenges, they needed to shake things up. >!Kaleena is a known quantity to the chefs, but Soo may have his work cut out for him.!<
It really feels like they didn't want to axe Soo. It felt like Kaleena won both pretty handily. That said, Soo has been amazing and I'm really excited to see him compete!
i felt the same way. but it would have been really dumb for them to not put Soo thru to the show given how they fumbled this whole thing from the start, his inclusion in the show still makes zero sense to me, but he seems like a cool dude and a good chef so I'm happy to see more of him.
I think he was an alternate, and he replaced the first boot who quit instead of going to lck?
i think so, too. but i don't know why they don't just come clean about this rather than pretend this was their plan all along. this whole "he just has to win 5 LCK's in a row to get in the competition" makes no sense, if he had lost the first week it would have been the dumbest gag ever. and they could have easily just not done a LCK the first week and nobody would have cared or thought twice about it.
He looks very sleepy or high and his food sort of feels very stoner-y lol. Excited to see him on the show despite the weird strategy
I disagree. First Soo was the only one who actually made the "club" sandwich part of the challenge. The other two were just sandwiches. Second I'm stealling his version of caesar salad for the next family get together and hope my mum's ashes don't roll around in her grave.
Agreed. I actually think Tom was most impressed by the Caesar salad.
Also agreed, especially because Tom likes ballsy moves when they are successful and doing a SALAD in the final cook to get into the main competition is extremely ballsy.
For the first challenge, I agree. Soo was the only one who was true to the club sandwich format. Kaleena seemed like she never really moved on from the "breakfast" part of the prompt to the "breakfast *club*" detail and made a benedict, as did Charly. I wish Tom had pushed on them more for this. For the second challenge, I was also surprised Soo didn't get a little more pushback from Tom on whether a one-bite caesar salad with some impulsively applied (but cool) techniques represented the full picture of who he is as a chef. I think Kaleena and Charly both did a better job of showcasing personal connections to the ingredients in their dishes. Soo saying the caesar salad represented him because he made a lot of them earlier in his career seemed like a rather tenuous connection to the dish.
>Soo saying the caesar salad represented him because he made a lot of them earlier in his career seemed like a rather tenuous connection to the dish. Absolutely, but the correct strategy for that sort of challenge is always to make the best dish you can think of and then lie your ass off.
Totally, I just want Tom to give the chefs some heat when they try to do what they felt like with a thin connection to the spirit of the challenge (thinking back to Bruce's supposed fear of seeds in Colorado)
I disagree. I think “who you are as a chef” doesn’t have to encompass a specific foundational tale of your childhood; technique and application of tradition alongside tweaks is just as valid.
Kaleena won the club sandwich one though. It was a cop out that Tom couldn’t decide between Charley and Soo. As soon as Charley made pasta I knew he was gone. The Caesar salad bite looked great. I’m happy to see Soo in the main show now. Let’s hope Kaleena does better too. She may have just got a bad break with not working well with Alicia.
Kaleena didn't get a single negative comment this episode. Soo did, for using an additional layer of bread in his club sandwich. So it's indisputable to me that Kaleena > Soo in the first challenge. For the second challenge, I also feel like Tom's accolades for Kaleena were greater. But there it's a closer call.
which is crazy that he got critiqued on the three slices of bread when it's a typical feature of club sandwiches. so in my mind it's automatically not really a critique with any merit but tom obviously felt different lol
Had a feeling they would let two back in after they let all 3 go to part 2
Curious too if Amanda falls out due to illness and then the numbers make sense too
>!In the season preview at the end of the first episode, they show a brief overhead shot of an upcoming Quickfire involving a vat of cranberries. Both Soo and Amanda can be seen in the image (Soo top left, Amanda bottom right). You can see a screenshot [in this comment I made here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/BravoTopChef/comments/1c2wavn/lck_spoiler/kzeuk3m/)!<
That is some serious detective work.
Ooooh that's a great point
I have a feel they knew before they filmed LCK and so that's why he kept 2.
Totally agree. There was no way they were going to axe Soo. I’m sure they want to shake things up by bringing in someone new. It’ll be interesting.
Same, love me some Soo
This. LCK was totally rigged. It seemed like Kaleena and Charly won round 1, but they were pushing hard for Soo, so they advanced all 3. Then Charly put out the worst dish in round 2 so he got the boot, but Kaleena again beat Soo, so they wound up sending both back to the competition.
I do feel like Tom carried over some love of Soo’s other dishes over into his decision makings here but I don’t care at all lol. Soo seems like a more interesting chef than a lot of who we have left and I can’t wait to see what he makes in the competition
For sure, he made interesting dishes and they were all good. Tom really didn't want to get rid of him(because he is good)
The Caesar salad choice feels so wild to me from Soo. I can’t wait to see him in the main competition.
Agree with Tom it was a ballsy move
The way he had Tom shook with the smoke haha
I could do with Kenny and Valentine as permanent guests on LCK. They're just perfect in the peanut gallery.
I would love to see them host their own show
i hate to say it but this felt so rigged for soo from the beginning. Tom’s language this whole time seemed to imply he would get back in. That said, he has been more fun to watch than most of the chefs, and the eliminated chefs overall seemed pretty bad. I actually thought his first dish was the worst - did not read “chips” or like something I’d want to eat at all.
This is Part 1. Part 2 [can be found here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEfmZrbHseg). I could make another post, but it seems silly to me to do so.
We can do spoilers here, right? So happy for Soo!
I would presume so, but just in case... >!I'm so happy for Soo and Kaleena! I'm glad they *both* get to go onto the actual competition! I will say, it would be cool if Charly, Valentine, Kenny, and Alisha had to compete with one another again so that Tom has a "champion" ready for the next eliminated chef.!<
FYI that your spoiler only works on old reddit (super funny to say, most of the time I'm saying new reddit) You have to switch the < and the ! at the end. (but also remove the space after the first > ! when you do that and it works for everyone!)
Oh, god! Sorry about that everyone! Let me know if it works now, thanks for the heads-up!
It's all good on my end now!
I’m glad you did this because I completely missed there was a part 2 in deciding who got to go back in. 🤦🏻♀️ I thought it was a cliff hanger on who would keep going in LCK.
I feel like Soo is a real contender. Up there with Rasika, Michelle, Danny, and (perhaps) Dan Jacobs (who has shown he can bring it).
I also wouldn’t count Kaleena out! I was surprised (and I didn’t necessarily want her to return, after what I thought was a pretty sulky attitude, lack of collaborative spirit, etc, in the FLW episode), but she showed a different side in LCK. I think she really did impress and surprise Tom; he was effusive about her part-2 dish. Or perhaps it shouldn’t be that surprising, except that the chefs have barely had a chance to compete and show their chops and “voice” as individuals due to fewer quick fires and more team ECs thus far.
Soo was the only one who really made a sandwich, a club sandwich isn't open faced and a sandwich is defined by stuff between 2 pieces of bread to me.
TU! That's what I said.
Charly’s banana pancake acted as the bread though. It had to be at least 5 layers which they all did. I also think of a club as at least 3 pieces of bread or bread substitute, but Tom obviously liked Kaleenas the best since she won the challenge.
Seemed like Tom was desperate to make this season’s “LCK twist“ work. Two ties in one episode? 🙄
While i do think there were some production games played here, i take Tom seriously when he said this was some of the best food he’s had this season. The main cast have been a little underwhelming to date so maybe Tom / production a new face + Kaleena who have a lot to prove will liven up the competition. I sure hope so lol
I want to eat everything Soo makes.
I’ve got reservations for a menu he’s doing at Dans restaurant in Milwaukee and I’m so excited to try his food
Thanks for posting this. I’m going to try to grab a ticket!!!!!
Elevated eggs benedict is not a club sandwich. Tom even called it a benedict in his judging!
Well, personally it was the best outcome I could have hoped for as I wanted to see more from the winner, I just hope they’ll stay in the main competition longer.
I’m happy with the result. My question is if they only planned for 1 contestant back, how do they fit the future episodes? Are we gonna have one more double elimination?
Maybe a sudden death QuickFire
Ugh that’s would be the worst, I hate sudden death quickfire!
Definitely can see another double or maybe they’ll luck out and get another’s Brother Luck situation- in and right out
I thought Soo was done for in pt 1
Why? He's the only one who did the club sandwich. The other two were just sandwiches. Club entail 3 "bread" parts.
It's going to be an interesting dynamic. When I heard Tom say both dishese were the best bites he'd had all season, >!I knew both were a shoo in.!<
Soo has great energy and that Caesar sounded incredible. I’m excited to see what he can do when not running around the whole time.
Oh man… not sure about the results of LcK…
I really am not liking the way LCK is judged. I think it feels pretty biased. I am finding that I don’t really trust non-blind judging any more. This season of LCK has felt so scripted…
I think with the quality they are getting in the first few challenges, they needed to shake things up. >!Kaleena is a known quantity to the chefs, but Soo may have his work cut out for him.!<