Next season, I would really like to see Restaurant Wars as a 2-day challenge. Give them a chance to really work on a menu & test all the dishes before they open to the judges and the public. (This would also give the front of house person a chance to develop a dish, even if someone else winds up cooking it the night of service.)

This. Although they do seem to be refining it season by season. At least they decided against the designer thing after that one try -- that was a train wreck.

Also though - what the fuck was up with the restaurant not being in actual working condition? Okay, yes, in a real restaurant you have to roll with the punches sometimes, but this challenge is pretty brutal anyway. Why add to that in such a silly way.

Well, she had something to do with it being crappy.

True fact.

I love the idea of making Restaurant Wars 2 days.

Top Gear: Identity of the Stig.

yes, here's an idea:

make it 2 days and day 1: have them develop dishes for the restaurant and it will be an individual challenge. They have to decide on a theme and develop dishes.

double elim: those with the most unsuccessful dishes get eliminated.

day 2: have a full fledged restaurant where they agree on the dishes (could be the ones they cooked the day before, or they modify and add another dish) and work on front of the house stuff.

Top Gear: They fooled me when they gave Stefan the win for being a good chef but could have easily picked Fabio for good service. I thought they would do the same thing on the flip side for the losing team--cut Rahdika a break for service and boot Carla for the desserts. Rahdika did deserve to go, though, because you don't leave your VIP guests hanging the way she did.

Top Gear: Identity of the Stig.

Awww, that's no fun! Like that BBC staffer said in the article, you don't print an article saying that Santa isn't real, so they shouldn't blow such a fun secret as the identity of The Stig. After all, some say that he floats like a butterfly, and stings like a bee.

Well it really was his dessert plus Fabio's charm. He COULD have been serving monkey ass and empty clam shells and people would have eaten it up!

Fabio and Radhika were prime example of how much difference service makes to a dining experience.

I was a bit shocked when Radhika picked Fabio second, when both Fabio and Jeff were available at that moment. (Although none of Jeff's organizational or sorbet skills were utilized. He pretty much just put his head down and cooked. Which was a smart call on his part.)

I kind of like Carla, but she's not the one you want in your culinary foxhole -- she's frequently a tranwreck of bad decision making. Now imagine if Radhika had picked Fabio instead. I'm willing to bet that Fabio still would have leapt at front of house, and they'd be on top.

I kind of like Carla, but she's not the one you want in your culinary foxhole -- she's frequently a tranwreck of bad decision making.

Oh she drives me crazy. I was right with the judge who wanted to fire her for talking about sending love out (with her crappy desserts). She didn't speak up when they were planning the menu AGAIN and then couldn't make a decision about the desserts when she could see they were going to fail.

I was right with the judge who wanted to fire her for talking about sending love out (with her crappy desserts).

I generally like her but man was that some whacked out shit. Especially once it became clear that she was serious, not being cutesy.

Especially once it became clear that she was serious, not being cutesy.

Yeah, I thought she was joking around at first, but no.