I know you guys mentioned this but now Im wondering if Mattin is really "from France". When I was working for the State Dept in Rio, I talked to hundreds of people, some who wanted to pass as nTive English speakers. I would say that 99% of the time, I could sense when someone had studied hard but never really lived in the US.

Perhaps there was something in Robouchon s comment that I missed but I thought his reaction to Mattin was just odd.

do you think it is because he does French/Spanish cooking?

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I was going to ask - is he maybe actually Basque?

yes he is. That's the region where he grew up. Southwestern France.

I guess I have no idea what someone from the Basque region sounds like, but that might explain it. I still think it's sort of odd, but who knows..TV....stress...editing....

I guess I have no idea what someone from the Basque region sounds like, but that might explain it. I still think it's sort of odd, but who knows..TV....stress...editing...

Basque is a completely different language, and even though he (and most Basque) probably has probably spoken French his entire life, the accent is radically different.

Well, that's an interesting point. So maybe French isn't his first language, even if he's very familiar with it.

Interesting fact about the Basque language--it has no connection to the Indo-European languages. It's a remnant of some long-ago language family that existed in Europe before the IE languages moved in.

I wonder if Mattin was hungover from his birthday celebration.

Also, Ron was cracking me up. I thought he was a little harsh with Robin, but the way it was edited she did seem a little hyped up. I know it's kind of mean but I was laughing when he just starting ignoring her chatter altogether.

Also, I think that Jen and Mike V. are into each other and will start Doing It soon.

Also, I think that Jen and Mike V. are into each other and will start Doing It soon.

Oh lord, I hope not. This is Top Chef, not The Real Kitchen f'cripesake!