Noooooo! Chappaqua-raised Erik Hopfinger heads home from 'Top Chef'
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- March
- 27
I’m always willing to admit my bias. So, yes, one of the reasons I was rooting hard for Erik Hopfinger to succeed on “Top Chef” was because of his childhood in Chappaqua.
That said, you could tell he was one of the most well-liked cheftestants when he announced to the rest of them that he was the one who was eliminated for serving his “soggy” corn dogs. Those were some legit, lingering hugs. Through only three sets of competitions, he seemed to bond with everybody from hyperactive Spike Mendelsohn to soft-spoken Zoi Antonitsas.
Based on the Elimination Challenge evidence presented to viewers, it would have been hard to make a case against keeping any other contestant from moving on in the competition. Ryan Scott’s Waldolf salad was called soggy, unseasoned and unfocused. Zoi’s pasta was deemed bland, oily and flavorless. But it’s never a good sign when your dish is called a “universal disappointment” by the judges.
Plus, he peaked with the Quickfire Challenge in the first episode and then found himself in the middle or losing team for the rest of the challenges. D’oh.
Still, I get the feeling I’m more upset about sending him off than he is. Here’s what he said as he packed his knives:
This is not the end of my career in any way, shape or form. I’m still an executive chef in San Francisco. I still have a huge, long, fruitful career ahead of me. It is what it is. You know, I’m not bitter and I had a great time while I was here.
After the break, more analysis of Erik Hopfinger and the rest of last night’s “Top Chef”!
If you have the episode on DVR, go back and watch the segment in which Jennifer Biesty is listing the members of the (losing) Red Team. She says, “Zoi, Dale, Andrew, Spike, Ryan and myself.” Hmm… who’s missing? Erik. Ominous omission, editors.
There’s only one thing that Erik said on “Top Chef” that I thought was a bit odd. After being called out by guest chef Rick Bayless for being one of the worst Quickfire contestants on the upscale taco challenge, he said in his confessional that “I don’t think fine dining and Mexican go together.” Before the first episode aired, he told me he’d be up for a post-show interview, so I’ll have to ask him about that one.
Also in the Bottom 3 for Quickfire: Lisa Fernandes for presenting undercooked skirt steak and Ryan (again!) for presenting his dish with paper on the plate. After the Chicken Piccata fiasco in the first Elimination Challenge, I get the feeling Ryan’s the next to go home.
Spike’s not going to win any sportsmanship awards while on the show. And although he was correct that there’s a problem in choosing to cook with a chef with immunity, did he ever consider that said chef—the consistently solid Richard Blais—might actually be popular because he knows what he’s doing?
Then again, Spike was part of one of the most magnanimous losing teams I’ve ever seen on the show: I’ve never seen a team so willing to pick each other up at the losing end of the judges’ table. It didn’t come across as defensive, either. It seemed to me like a team that not only stood behind their work, but was willing to stand up for their teammates’, too. Had the Blue Team lost—or even if Erik had just been paired up with Nikki Cascone and her “brick” of macaroni and cheese—perhaps Nikki would have gone home instead of Erik.
We’ll never know. Maybe after two women were first to be eliminated, the producers decided it was more important to send home a guy, a theory that holds weight after viewers were subjected to the glorified public service announcement at the beginning of the show, when female chefs talked about how important it is that a woman win the competition. The more that angle is exploited, the less credibility there will be for a female winner—and there will be one, this season or otherwise. I don’t care what gender the Top Chef is. Just let the best chef win, please.
I’ll admit though that I got a kick out of this week’s “Top Chef” poll question. Asked if there would first be a female “Top Chef” winner or a female president, 85 percent of viewers favored the first option. So does this mean Padma Lakshmi will soon tell another Chappaqua personality—Sen. Hillary Clinton—”Please pack your campaign ads and go?”
Fun quotes from the segment in which cheftestants had to acquire their food by going door-to-door on a suburban Chicago block! Here’s Andrew D’Ambrosi impersonating the good-looking Ryan Scott:
Hey, I’m tall, dark and handsome. I need some grapes.
And here’s Mr. Tall-Dark-And-Handsome himself talking about what it might be like to be asked for food by the hulking Hopfinger, who’s bald and showcasing a neck tattoo:
Can you imagine if you sent Erik to the front door and he says, [lowers voice] “Can I have some food?”
And now I will summarily lump the remaining contestants into unfair categories based on how much I like them:
Favorites: Andrew D’Ambrosi, Stephanie Izard, Mark Simmons and Manuel Trevino.
Indifferent: Richard Blais, Zoi Antonitsas, Jennifer Biesty, Antonia Lofaso, Lisa Fernandes, Ryan Scott and Dale Talde.
Grating on me: Evangelos “Spike” Mendelsohn and Nikki Cascone.
(NBC/Universal photos by Chuck Hodes)
This entry was posted
on Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 2:22 am by Chris Serico.
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I used to work with Erik about 10 years ago. He was one of the best chefs I've worked with and we had a lot of fun in the kitchen. I learned a ton from him and was sad to see him go from the show.