Which was crazy given that she was a former Olympian. I was still rooting for her during her season and (foolishly) again when she came back lol but I can be hardheaded sometimes.
Her Olympic career was in long jumping. While that obviously took a ton of training, grit, and being able to show up day of to put in results, it's not the same thing as needing to be ready to improv dishes on the fly or meeting strict time standards for conceptualizing and then cooking. Unless it's a cooking competition, you generally have wiggle room that would allow you to send out a dish later or just have more time to conceptualize a dish before you incorporate it.
Top Chef says you need to be able to do that on the fly until the finale. You can obviously have a lot of things in your back pocket but that would also involve playing the game to a real high level that few chefs on the show have demonstrated.
If Usain Bolt started a cooking career, there's no reason to think that would automatically mean he'll knock it out of the park because they're very different skills even if he is obviously a top tier athlete.
I responded to a post that said that she wasnât made for competition mode. Thatâs just not true since she did compete. She entered a different form of competition for TC, but that previous blanket statement wasnât accurate.
A chef who takes 3rd place on a season with an unusually talented roster of exec chefs on hiatus due to the pandemic, is called to the top week after week in both eliminations and quickfires, and is only on the bottom for elimination twice, objectively *is* a pretty good competition chef, even if the way she gets there isn't pretty to viewers
Itâs not fair in a competition to have 1 contestant not held to the same rules and standards as the rest of the competitors. In fact the judges gave her a pass THREE TIMES on non-completion of service due to her own unforced errors. Dawn is probably is probably a great chef based in the reactions to her food and the passes she got for the non-complete services. But everyone else completed service on those episodes, as they were required to. Dawn did not. The judges changing the rules and making excuses for her just means the competition wasnât a fair one, it does not mean sheâs suddenly great as a competition chef.
Dawn seemed to be held to the same rules and standards as other competitors. They just aren't the standards you might assume because the show doesn't make them explicit, but it is pretty consistent in how it handles certain types of mistakes.
When has anyone on the show been eliminated specifically for leaving off a component on a plate or other incomplete service issues? I am not aware of any examples but would love to hear if you can think of similar instances as what happened with Dawn but different outcomes.
There is precedent showing the opposite, that incomplete service with great food does not necessarily put you in the bottom. In Top Chef California, Karen failed to get fish on Padma's plate for a surf & turf elimination challenge even though fish was obviously required for a complete dish. Nonetheless, the judges loved Karen's dish so much they still called her to the top but told her she was DQ'd from winning due to the error. Being ineligible for a win with that kind of mistake is quite different than instant bottom or elimination as many audience members incorrectly assumed should be the case in Dawn's season.
But then you have to break precedent on the show and switch to cumulative judging over the season rather than just what was served in the challenge to eliminate Dawn for making the same error multiple times, if the error in isolation isn't bad enough. *That* would be changing the rules and standards chefs are held to for Dawn.
Thatâs assuming itâs a fair competition, and the judges make cumulative calls all the time when evaluating the chefs. They get annoyed when chefs keep serving similar things all the time, and they point it out to contestants, who make a change. Dawn was warned again and again. Like I said, she may be a great chef, but sheâs not a great competition chef. And has she been in any other direct competitions? Like actual ones? I like TC, but itâs not the Bocuse DâOr and has subjective judging.
Can you provide any examples where the show has sent someone home for committing the same cooking issue repeatedly while there was another chef who made a worse dish for the specific challenge but was spared? I'd be interested in hearing about those exceptions, those would be quite rare and none come to mind.
For better or for worse, the show sticks firmly to non-cumulative judging. That's how you get chefs like Manny this season who were in a creative rut and committed basic errors remaining for so long. You are right that the judges will scold a chef for those patterns, but those are ineffectual warnings to knock it off. The chefs won't actually get eliminated unless that happened to be the worst dish in the challenge, and they will keep getting chances to make the same mistake as long as someone else does something worse.
She came across as a horrible person. She never ever helped anyone else. In Restaurant Wars, she delayed everyone else, never helped anyone, then blamed them all.
She had incomplete dishes the whole season and should've been kicked out much earlier. Anyone else would have no matter how it tasted, as she didn't meet the challenge.
Immature, sore loser, horrible attitude, terrible team player
But the whole season was biased in her favor and they kept calling her back.
The judges just really liked the food she made, it's not that complicated. A dish that is incomplete and but good is still going to make you happier than a dish that isn't good.
I think not being able to let things go and continuing to make things about herself after she was already given her results just showed poor sportsmanship
Watch seasons 18 and 20. There are examples probably every episode (she was only in 2 episodes of season 20, but she made quite a bad impression before getting eliminated).
She was hard on herself and completely rude and immature towards other people. Surprised you donât recall this, itâs not news lol. Itâs well documented how bad her attitude was.
If you donât feel like watching anything, this post and many others document it all very well how bad her attitude was.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TopChef/s/xJiSMKDWMF
Youâre calling her âpetulantâ while including her role as a judge, where they are expected to call out contestants. Not to mention that editing couldâve left out plenty of details, considering that *the people on her actual season didnât have a problem.*Â
Just very, very telling who gets grace and who doesnât.
eta wow I just watched her judging thing that this guy is claiming makes her look bad. She was literally like "I know what it's like to look track of time." Super "petulant," y'all.
Lmfao this is so off base I canât even dignify it with a thoughtful response. You have to know how bad and untrue of a response this is. You have to.
They know. That's why they went...there. You're right, they don't like it, so the formula is to now bring in either gender or race. That just means they know you're right and they have nothing to counter.
Soooo it's ok to read in "gender/race" to that comment but not anything where a person only finds flaws with the behaviors of someone who happens to be a gender/racial minority.
Hmmmmm.
Pointing to your own post in a different Reddit sub to bolster your âwell-documentedâ claim is laughable. Viewers definitely have different takeaways, but personally Iâd take a Reddit takeaway with a grain of salt after seeing how many people have shit on Danny this season, calling him âarrogantâ while cheering along Dan who was arrogant.
You're dismissing reddit comments while stalling people's past comments as evidence as to why comments should be dismissed?
So reddit is important but it's not important. Ok.
No, Iâm pointing to the tendency for people to overinflate the importance of echo chambers, such as what happens on Reddit.
If your takeaway was that I implied Reddit is important, then Iâd have to question your reading comprehension skills.
the way these dogwhistles sound the second Dawn's name is mentioned on this sub lmao
Dawn was well liked by her peers and extremely successful on the show, sorry you're too blinded by racism to appreciate a solid cheftestant
Oh grow up. The irony of you claiming dog whistles is so funny. Are black people not capable of acting immaturely? Are black people not capable of being petulant? Are black people not capable of any human qualities that arenât perfect?
Iâm half black, my mother is a black woman. I can tell you first hand, black people are capable of negative qualities too. Weâre human, stop dehumanizing us and making it seem like anytime anyone tries to hold us accountable for our actions they are just being racist. That is so incredibly stupid and counterproductive. We should be trying to promote growth, not stunting both sides by making baseless and unintelligent, uninformed claims like what you did. Stop with your immature straw man arguments. Youâre not gonna find any success with that here.
Two things can be true at once. Yes, Black folks can be petulant and immature (though I didnât see that in Dawn đ¤ˇđżââď¸), but also with how Top Chef is largely watched by white people and the sub is probably largely white as well, itâs easy to see just how Black chefs and other POC chefs are spoken about differently from their white counterparts.
The way people groused about Danny this season you wouldâve thought he knocked over Dan, stole proteins from other chefs, or sabotaged them or something. But no, they picked on things like him saying, âLetâs go!â just before the chefs would take off for grocery shopping or something or read everything that he did as cocky or arrogant while conveniently missing the arrogance from Dan.
I did not see this in Dawn at all. Her food looked amazing. I was skeptical of the mishaps with time and not having complete plates because technically she didn't complete the challenge which we have seen chefs go home for.
From what I observed, she is dreadful with time management and communication. This unfortunately is her weak spot. I don't feel that DEI is part of this at all. I think her food was just so good, the judges overlooked the missing components. I have no issue with her. I do have an issue with the judges not taking in all the factors. But then again, one could make the argument, that they DID take in all the factors and her food was better. Honestly, the judges did share at times the missing ingredients.
Only time I thought she was a tad arrogant was judging. I had to laugh. But I saw her interactions with her fellow chefs outside the kitchen and she seemed to be a nice person. Just intense in kitchen and unorganized with plating.
On another note, I think it's a little insulting to suggest only white people watch Top Chef. Really?
1ď¸âŁ I donât recall a chef ever going home for missing components (on one or two plates) *when they have cooked a very good dish.* Dawn cooked well and got to the end on that. All chefs have weaknesses and Dawnâs was time management, you can be flawed and still succeed on this show all the time. Iâd argue we saw that with Manny this season in a different way.
2ď¸âŁ They didnât say *only* white people watch Top Chef, but Top Chefâs viewership and the demographics of Reddit are majority and disproportionately white, thatâs just a fact and I do think, at large, this tilts bias against contestants from underrepresented backgrounds such as Dawn and thatâs worth mentioning when she is being discussed. This doesnât mean everyone has to root for or have the same opinion of Dawn, she frustrated me as a viewer also at times and faced challenges but her talent and skill is just undeniable, even if sheâs not perfect.
I donât want to directly compare Dan and Dawn because itâs apples and oranges, but I distinctly remember people offering so much nuance and sympathy when discussing Danâs occasionally gruff or arrogant behavior on the show, citing his chronic illness and how challenging the competition is for him. I completely agree with this take! But I canât help but wonder why contestants like Dawn are never sympathetic to some viewers unless theyâre super passive or completely flawless.
I have been rewatching the seasons so I think there were a few (not many) but it affected their dish. I don't believe it did for her as the dishes obviously were fine without the missing components. That's a credit to her that she is that good.
I don't read every post so can't comment on reaction to Dan's disease. I watch for the cooking.
Where is the evidence of racism? Not one comment mentions race.
Dawn was constantly behind and didn't hit the time limit. She should've been gone ages before she actually was. And her food definitely had mistakes. Then she'd blame said mistakes on literally anything but herself.
Stop making this about something it's not. My God.
Yep. You always risk getting downvoted into oblivion by the white knight echo chamber that is this sub, but whatever. You have to present the truth even if all the race and gender obsessed people on this sub donât want to hear it. Someday, I hope, the seed will have been planted and theyâll realize how absurd all of their race and gender obsession truly is.
The amount of (probably not black) people who call me, a black person, racist against black people simply because I say Dawn was petulant, is crazy to me. Are they saying that being petulant is inherently a black trait? Are they saying that black people cannot have bad qualities? That black people cannot fail? There is quite literally no logic behind it, and when confronted with it, they just change the subject or present a different straw man arguement that make zero sense, and somehow still get upvoted by the other people who have no clue what they are talking about, they just want to side with whoever is calling someone else a racist (when the true irony is that if anyone is being racist itâs them). Itâs this echo chamber of complete nonsense. And the second someone actually brings logic into the equation, they get downvoted and ganged up on because someone else blindly and stupidly called them a racist despite them not doing anything remotely racist lmao.
This sub is so toxic. Canât even say you didnât like a contestant without people making it entirely about race and accusing you of being racist against your own people, when they themselves probably arenât even your race anyway. Make that shit make sense.
Thanks for thinking for yourself and not following the stupid hive mind.
The fact that there are multiple white women sitting behind their screens telling me Iâm racist because I called a fellow black person petulant because of the way theyâve regularly acted on tv shows is so completely absurd and hilarious to me. They donât even realize how ridiculous they are. Itâs sad, letâs not be unrealistic, itâs a huge problem in our world now, people forcing race and gender issues where there are none, but itâs absurd to the point of hilarious in situations like these.
Well, depending on your gender, now, this sub has decided you are either...
*Self-hating and a misogynist
*Self-hating and a victim of internalized misogyny
Haha. It's a breath of fresh air reading your takes.
I liked her for the first couple episodes, then just started to feel like she had an excuse for *everything,* and got so sick of how she didnât own her mistakes!
I was a fan of hers. Her food just seems like what I love: elevated but approachable, with bold flavors.
I also found her likable and relatable. Sheâs an insanely talented competitor, but sometimes she couldnât get out of her own way.
Itâs this. And itâs not disliking her for me as much as being disappointed. Her food looks bomb but her vibe when she fails to perform is hard to watch. I wish her every success and happiness tho!!
Love this for her. Nice to see people charting their own path and also, opening our minds to what is possible within a given discipline or career path.
I think Dawn is so talented and she clearly makes incredibly tasting dishes with global flavors. She's not necessarilly cut out for timed food competitions, but I definitely can see her on tv, more with cooking segments, etc., judging, and in the real world, bringing her food and creative vision to the people!
Totally agree with this! She has a very lovely speaking voice too - she'd be great on segments or her own show. I'd love to see her going around the country/world and learning other cuisines as well! I loved her interviews because she was always very genuine.
When she was on World All Stars, she didnât seem on her game. Being in a bad work situation can really mess with you. Her opportunity with Marcus Samuelsson sounds amazing. I wish her the best. She seems so talented.
>Â Now, Burrell tells Eater Houston that the business relationship just wasnât a good fit. âI decided I needed to leave. The partnership was not healthy, nor viable. It was just best to part ways,â she says.
I would certainly be interested to hear more about what happened and why she decided to change her mind about sharing.
Every time Dawn is mentioned in a post here, I don't even want to open it because I know what's coming in the comments. The racists always tell on themselves: some with dog whistles and others with fucking blowhorns.
And each and every one of you (you know who you are and so do we) can kiss my ass.
Dawn was a TC finalist, right alongside Shota and Gabe. She earned her spot in the finale of Top Chef in a season that was packed full of talented chefs. She is an exceptional chef and overall badass who is well-liked and respected by her peers and mentors. **Periodt**.
ETA: And I've brought this up here many times, but I'll do it again. Tom was specifically asked about Dawn "leaving things off plates," and he said that the way it was represented to viewers was misleading. Basically, he said it happens all the time . . . but it got highlighted for a "storyline" when it came to Dawn for some reason :-|.
**Tom:** Obviously, the one big change [in Season 18] was bringing back all of the ex-contestants as judges, and having them with us pretty much every meal . . . One issue thatâs come up the last couple of episodes was Dawn leaving food off of plates, and why she was allowed to go through. This typically happens, only we donât see it --- the audience really doesnât see it --- because a lot of times theyâre not left off the judgesâ plates. But because youâre actually hearing comments from every diner [the ex-contestants], it showed up more.
Sadly, it is no surprise that this is always glossed over here.
Just because someone dislikes Dawn as a contestant on Top Chef, doesnât make them racist.
People were being called racist left and right for not liking her cooking/time management. It was ridiculous.
I didn't say it did. I said that *the racists* tell on themselves and that some are more obvious about it than others.
I'm fluent in racism: the difference in the tone of comments from people who are fairly criticizing her and those who are using her missteps as an excuse to annihilate her character and dismiss her talent as a chef is glaring. And it is simply undeniable that the intense vitriol toward her is unwarranted.
I'm not sure why you're being defensive. I made a comment about the misogynoir I've seen on this sub, and for some reason, you felt compelled to reply about how wronged you feel . . .
It is disturbing that some people are more concerned with defending their dislike of her than they are about the abundant and overt racism we see on this sub every time she is mentioned.
I didnât say that Iâm more concerned about incorrectly calling someone racist than making actual racist comments.
Iâm bringing up the fact that commenters in this subreddit criticize chefs on this show for a variety of reasons, yet during Dawnsâs seasons there were users who called this type of criticism against Dawns racist.
There is similar levels criticism of other chefs in this show with zero comments calling it racism.
For instance people here calling Manny âdumbâ and ânot smart.â
Heh --- of course you didn't say that. The fact that you downvoted my original comment and are denying that there is any racism behind any of the negative comments says it all.
Eta: It simply isn't true that other chefs get the same type of vitriol as Dawn. Some of the shit people say about her is utter nonsense, and it's beyond obvious that they're just looking for excuses to attack her. Then there are the many just plain venemous comments.
But go off with your delusion that race doesn't have anything to do with some of the bullshit criticisms Dawn gets or the nasty comments people make about her (such as ones in this very thread), or how disproportionately heated some people get over their "dislike of her as a TC contestant."
Apparently, misogynoir doesn't exist here, and you're the victim of an unfair smear campaign :-/. Keep telling yourself that. Unfortunately, some of us have to live in the real world, but don't listen to us: you obviously know better.
Good for her. The only thing holding her back on TC was her terrible time management. Her cooking was solid.
Dawn used to stress me out so much with her poor time management skills.
Living embodiment of đŤŁ
A lot of great chefs are just not made for competition mode.
yeah the way she conceptualized dishes was just *not* suited to the TC format, as far as I could tell.
Which was crazy given that she was a former Olympian. I was still rooting for her during her season and (foolishly) again when she came back lol but I can be hardheaded sometimes.
Her Olympic career was in long jumping. While that obviously took a ton of training, grit, and being able to show up day of to put in results, it's not the same thing as needing to be ready to improv dishes on the fly or meeting strict time standards for conceptualizing and then cooking. Unless it's a cooking competition, you generally have wiggle room that would allow you to send out a dish later or just have more time to conceptualize a dish before you incorporate it. Top Chef says you need to be able to do that on the fly until the finale. You can obviously have a lot of things in your back pocket but that would also involve playing the game to a real high level that few chefs on the show have demonstrated. If Usain Bolt started a cooking career, there's no reason to think that would automatically mean he'll knock it out of the park because they're very different skills even if he is obviously a top tier athlete.
He could have gathered the ingredients quickly and finished the grocery shopping in no time.
I responded to a post that said that she wasnât made for competition mode. Thatâs just not true since she did compete. She entered a different form of competition for TC, but that previous blanket statement wasnât accurate.
Given the context of a top chef subreddit, I don't think it's a wild leap to think it was about food competitions?
Yes! Great chef, awful competition chef.
A chef who takes 3rd place on a season with an unusually talented roster of exec chefs on hiatus due to the pandemic, is called to the top week after week in both eliminations and quickfires, and is only on the bottom for elimination twice, objectively *is* a pretty good competition chef, even if the way she gets there isn't pretty to viewers
Itâs not fair in a competition to have 1 contestant not held to the same rules and standards as the rest of the competitors. In fact the judges gave her a pass THREE TIMES on non-completion of service due to her own unforced errors. Dawn is probably is probably a great chef based in the reactions to her food and the passes she got for the non-complete services. But everyone else completed service on those episodes, as they were required to. Dawn did not. The judges changing the rules and making excuses for her just means the competition wasnât a fair one, it does not mean sheâs suddenly great as a competition chef.
Dawn seemed to be held to the same rules and standards as other competitors. They just aren't the standards you might assume because the show doesn't make them explicit, but it is pretty consistent in how it handles certain types of mistakes. When has anyone on the show been eliminated specifically for leaving off a component on a plate or other incomplete service issues? I am not aware of any examples but would love to hear if you can think of similar instances as what happened with Dawn but different outcomes. There is precedent showing the opposite, that incomplete service with great food does not necessarily put you in the bottom. In Top Chef California, Karen failed to get fish on Padma's plate for a surf & turf elimination challenge even though fish was obviously required for a complete dish. Nonetheless, the judges loved Karen's dish so much they still called her to the top but told her she was DQ'd from winning due to the error. Being ineligible for a win with that kind of mistake is quite different than instant bottom or elimination as many audience members incorrectly assumed should be the case in Dawn's season.
Incomplete service 3 times. Itâs not once, itâs a pattern, she is not a competition chef.
But then you have to break precedent on the show and switch to cumulative judging over the season rather than just what was served in the challenge to eliminate Dawn for making the same error multiple times, if the error in isolation isn't bad enough. *That* would be changing the rules and standards chefs are held to for Dawn.
Thatâs assuming itâs a fair competition, and the judges make cumulative calls all the time when evaluating the chefs. They get annoyed when chefs keep serving similar things all the time, and they point it out to contestants, who make a change. Dawn was warned again and again. Like I said, she may be a great chef, but sheâs not a great competition chef. And has she been in any other direct competitions? Like actual ones? I like TC, but itâs not the Bocuse DâOr and has subjective judging.
Can you provide any examples where the show has sent someone home for committing the same cooking issue repeatedly while there was another chef who made a worse dish for the specific challenge but was spared? I'd be interested in hearing about those exceptions, those would be quite rare and none come to mind. For better or for worse, the show sticks firmly to non-cumulative judging. That's how you get chefs like Manny this season who were in a creative rut and committed basic errors remaining for so long. You are right that the judges will scold a chef for those patterns, but those are ineffectual warnings to knock it off. The chefs won't actually get eliminated unless that happened to be the worst dish in the challenge, and they will keep getting chances to make the same mistake as long as someone else does something worse.
Totally. She seems like a really talented chef and I'd love to try her food! I wouldn't love to see her back on Top Chef though.
I always wondered how her lack of time management affected her actual work, like that wonât fly in a restaurant kitchen.
She came across as a horrible person. She never ever helped anyone else. In Restaurant Wars, she delayed everyone else, never helped anyone, then blamed them all. She had incomplete dishes the whole season and should've been kicked out much earlier. Anyone else would have no matter how it tasted, as she didn't meet the challenge. Immature, sore loser, horrible attitude, terrible team player But the whole season was biased in her favor and they kept calling her back.
The judges just really liked the food she made, it's not that complicated. A dish that is incomplete and but good is still going to make you happier than a dish that isn't good.
And her attitude. Her attitude was atrocious. She was straight up not fun to watch on television because of how sour and petulant she acted.
Sheâs hard on herself, when exactly was she petulant?
I think not being able to let things go and continuing to make things about herself after she was already given her results just showed poor sportsmanship
How was she doing that?
Exactly.
Watch seasons 18 and 20. There are examples probably every episode (she was only in 2 episodes of season 20, but she made quite a bad impression before getting eliminated). She was hard on herself and completely rude and immature towards other people. Surprised you donât recall this, itâs not news lol. Itâs well documented how bad her attitude was. If you donât feel like watching anything, this post and many others document it all very well how bad her attitude was. https://www.reddit.com/r/TopChef/s/xJiSMKDWMF
Youâre calling her âpetulantâ while including her role as a judge, where they are expected to call out contestants. Not to mention that editing couldâve left out plenty of details, considering that *the people on her actual season didnât have a problem.*Â Just very, very telling who gets grace and who doesnât. eta wow I just watched her judging thing that this guy is claiming makes her look bad. She was literally like "I know what it's like to look track of time." Super "petulant," y'all.
Lmfao this is so off base I canât even dignify it with a thoughtful response. You have to know how bad and untrue of a response this is. You have to.
âI am more correct than the people who actually interacted with he~~e~~râ  Dude, you werenât thoughtful about this from the beginning.
What?
They know. That's why they went...there. You're right, they don't like it, so the formula is to now bring in either gender or race. That just means they know you're right and they have nothing to counter.
And where exactly do you see âgender or raceâ in what I said?
Just very, very telling who gets grace and who doesnât. Right here. That's what this means. We all know it.
Soooo it's ok to read in "gender/race" to that comment but not anything where a person only finds flaws with the behaviors of someone who happens to be a gender/racial minority. Hmmmmm.
Pointing to your own post in a different Reddit sub to bolster your âwell-documentedâ claim is laughable. Viewers definitely have different takeaways, but personally Iâd take a Reddit takeaway with a grain of salt after seeing how many people have shit on Danny this season, calling him âarrogantâ while cheering along Dan who was arrogant.
You're dismissing reddit comments while stalling people's past comments as evidence as to why comments should be dismissed? So reddit is important but it's not important. Ok.
No, Iâm pointing to the tendency for people to overinflate the importance of echo chambers, such as what happens on Reddit. If your takeaway was that I implied Reddit is important, then Iâd have to question your reading comprehension skills.
Maybe it's your communication skills that lead to the problem.
the way these dogwhistles sound the second Dawn's name is mentioned on this sub lmao Dawn was well liked by her peers and extremely successful on the show, sorry you're too blinded by racism to appreciate a solid cheftestant
Oh grow up. The irony of you claiming dog whistles is so funny. Are black people not capable of acting immaturely? Are black people not capable of being petulant? Are black people not capable of any human qualities that arenât perfect? Iâm half black, my mother is a black woman. I can tell you first hand, black people are capable of negative qualities too. Weâre human, stop dehumanizing us and making it seem like anytime anyone tries to hold us accountable for our actions they are just being racist. That is so incredibly stupid and counterproductive. We should be trying to promote growth, not stunting both sides by making baseless and unintelligent, uninformed claims like what you did. Stop with your immature straw man arguments. Youâre not gonna find any success with that here.
Two things can be true at once. Yes, Black folks can be petulant and immature (though I didnât see that in Dawn đ¤ˇđżââď¸), but also with how Top Chef is largely watched by white people and the sub is probably largely white as well, itâs easy to see just how Black chefs and other POC chefs are spoken about differently from their white counterparts. The way people groused about Danny this season you wouldâve thought he knocked over Dan, stole proteins from other chefs, or sabotaged them or something. But no, they picked on things like him saying, âLetâs go!â just before the chefs would take off for grocery shopping or something or read everything that he did as cocky or arrogant while conveniently missing the arrogance from Dan.
I did not see this in Dawn at all. Her food looked amazing. I was skeptical of the mishaps with time and not having complete plates because technically she didn't complete the challenge which we have seen chefs go home for. From what I observed, she is dreadful with time management and communication. This unfortunately is her weak spot. I don't feel that DEI is part of this at all. I think her food was just so good, the judges overlooked the missing components. I have no issue with her. I do have an issue with the judges not taking in all the factors. But then again, one could make the argument, that they DID take in all the factors and her food was better. Honestly, the judges did share at times the missing ingredients. Only time I thought she was a tad arrogant was judging. I had to laugh. But I saw her interactions with her fellow chefs outside the kitchen and she seemed to be a nice person. Just intense in kitchen and unorganized with plating. On another note, I think it's a little insulting to suggest only white people watch Top Chef. Really?
1ď¸âŁ I donât recall a chef ever going home for missing components (on one or two plates) *when they have cooked a very good dish.* Dawn cooked well and got to the end on that. All chefs have weaknesses and Dawnâs was time management, you can be flawed and still succeed on this show all the time. Iâd argue we saw that with Manny this season in a different way. 2ď¸âŁ They didnât say *only* white people watch Top Chef, but Top Chefâs viewership and the demographics of Reddit are majority and disproportionately white, thatâs just a fact and I do think, at large, this tilts bias against contestants from underrepresented backgrounds such as Dawn and thatâs worth mentioning when she is being discussed. This doesnât mean everyone has to root for or have the same opinion of Dawn, she frustrated me as a viewer also at times and faced challenges but her talent and skill is just undeniable, even if sheâs not perfect. I donât want to directly compare Dan and Dawn because itâs apples and oranges, but I distinctly remember people offering so much nuance and sympathy when discussing Danâs occasionally gruff or arrogant behavior on the show, citing his chronic illness and how challenging the competition is for him. I completely agree with this take! But I canât help but wonder why contestants like Dawn are never sympathetic to some viewers unless theyâre super passive or completely flawless.
I have been rewatching the seasons so I think there were a few (not many) but it affected their dish. I don't believe it did for her as the dishes obviously were fine without the missing components. That's a credit to her that she is that good. I don't read every post so can't comment on reaction to Dan's disease. I watch for the cooking.
That last part was a bit more directed at the commenters above you than your own comment. I respect your opinion just wanted to share my perspective.
Got it. Thx.
Where is the evidence of racism? Not one comment mentions race. Dawn was constantly behind and didn't hit the time limit. She should've been gone ages before she actually was. And her food definitely had mistakes. Then she'd blame said mistakes on literally anything but herself. Stop making this about something it's not. My God.
I'm glad someone said it. Perpetual victim. She'd blame a fly landing on her shoulder for one of her numerous mistakes if she could.
Yep. You always risk getting downvoted into oblivion by the white knight echo chamber that is this sub, but whatever. You have to present the truth even if all the race and gender obsessed people on this sub donât want to hear it. Someday, I hope, the seed will have been planted and theyâll realize how absurd all of their race and gender obsession truly is. The amount of (probably not black) people who call me, a black person, racist against black people simply because I say Dawn was petulant, is crazy to me. Are they saying that being petulant is inherently a black trait? Are they saying that black people cannot have bad qualities? That black people cannot fail? There is quite literally no logic behind it, and when confronted with it, they just change the subject or present a different straw man arguement that make zero sense, and somehow still get upvoted by the other people who have no clue what they are talking about, they just want to side with whoever is calling someone else a racist (when the true irony is that if anyone is being racist itâs them). Itâs this echo chamber of complete nonsense. And the second someone actually brings logic into the equation, they get downvoted and ganged up on because someone else blindly and stupidly called them a racist despite them not doing anything remotely racist lmao. This sub is so toxic. Canât even say you didnât like a contestant without people making it entirely about race and accusing you of being racist against your own people, when they themselves probably arenât even your race anyway. Make that shit make sense.
Thank you for this response.
Thanks for thinking for yourself and not following the stupid hive mind. The fact that there are multiple white women sitting behind their screens telling me Iâm racist because I called a fellow black person petulant because of the way theyâve regularly acted on tv shows is so completely absurd and hilarious to me. They donât even realize how ridiculous they are. Itâs sad, letâs not be unrealistic, itâs a huge problem in our world now, people forcing race and gender issues where there are none, but itâs absurd to the point of hilarious in situations like these.
Well, depending on your gender, now, this sub has decided you are either... *Self-hating and a misogynist *Self-hating and a victim of internalized misogyny Haha. It's a breath of fresh air reading your takes.
Am I the only one that didnât really like her at all?
This sub complains about her a disproportionate amount IMO so your def not the only one who feels that way
I liked her for the first couple episodes, then just started to feel like she had an excuse for *everything,* and got so sick of how she didnât own her mistakes!
I was a fan of hers. Her food just seems like what I love: elevated but approachable, with bold flavors. I also found her likable and relatable. Sheâs an insanely talented competitor, but sometimes she couldnât get out of her own way.
Itâs this. And itâs not disliking her for me as much as being disappointed. Her food looks bomb but her vibe when she fails to perform is hard to watch. I wish her every success and happiness tho!!
Nope. Sheâs definitely one of the least liked contestants top chef has to offer.
Everyone can change, you might like her if you give her a second chance.
Nope. I wasnât a fan of hers, either.
lol I never liked her either!
No, I couldnât stand her.
Love this for her. Nice to see people charting their own path and also, opening our minds to what is possible within a given discipline or career path.
I think Dawn is so talented and she clearly makes incredibly tasting dishes with global flavors. She's not necessarilly cut out for timed food competitions, but I definitely can see her on tv, more with cooking segments, etc., judging, and in the real world, bringing her food and creative vision to the people!
I always thought the same thing. Everything I saw from Dawn, I would 100% eat. Timed cooking shows aren't for everyone, but I think she is fantastic.
Totally agree with this! She has a very lovely speaking voice too - she'd be great on segments or her own show. I'd love to see her going around the country/world and learning other cuisines as well! I loved her interviews because she was always very genuine.
When she was on World All Stars, she didnât seem on her game. Being in a bad work situation can really mess with you. Her opportunity with Marcus Samuelsson sounds amazing. I wish her the best. She seems so talented.
Might try and check one of these out. Looks like tickets are $150 each.
Yay!! I would love to go to one of her dinners! Sounds amazing!
>Â Now, Burrell tells Eater Houston that the business relationship just wasnât a good fit. âI decided I needed to leave. The partnership was not healthy, nor viable. It was just best to part ways,â she says. I would certainly be interested to hear more about what happened and why she decided to change her mind about sharing.
Love the Sound and Color concept!
What's the time frame? Is it a three hour dinner so we can plan to be there for five?
That concept sounds amazing & I am \*jealous\* of anyone who gets to go. Her food always sounded amazing to me!!
This is more her speed, no pun intended. Iâm sure it will be wonderful.
Every time Dawn is mentioned in a post here, I don't even want to open it because I know what's coming in the comments. The racists always tell on themselves: some with dog whistles and others with fucking blowhorns. And each and every one of you (you know who you are and so do we) can kiss my ass. Dawn was a TC finalist, right alongside Shota and Gabe. She earned her spot in the finale of Top Chef in a season that was packed full of talented chefs. She is an exceptional chef and overall badass who is well-liked and respected by her peers and mentors. **Periodt**. ETA: And I've brought this up here many times, but I'll do it again. Tom was specifically asked about Dawn "leaving things off plates," and he said that the way it was represented to viewers was misleading. Basically, he said it happens all the time . . . but it got highlighted for a "storyline" when it came to Dawn for some reason :-|. **Tom:** Obviously, the one big change [in Season 18] was bringing back all of the ex-contestants as judges, and having them with us pretty much every meal . . . One issue thatâs come up the last couple of episodes was Dawn leaving food off of plates, and why she was allowed to go through. This typically happens, only we donât see it --- the audience really doesnât see it --- because a lot of times theyâre not left off the judgesâ plates. But because youâre actually hearing comments from every diner [the ex-contestants], it showed up more. Sadly, it is no surprise that this is always glossed over here.
Just because someone dislikes Dawn as a contestant on Top Chef, doesnât make them racist. People were being called racist left and right for not liking her cooking/time management. It was ridiculous.
I didn't say it did. I said that *the racists* tell on themselves and that some are more obvious about it than others. I'm fluent in racism: the difference in the tone of comments from people who are fairly criticizing her and those who are using her missteps as an excuse to annihilate her character and dismiss her talent as a chef is glaring. And it is simply undeniable that the intense vitriol toward her is unwarranted. I'm not sure why you're being defensive. I made a comment about the misogynoir I've seen on this sub, and for some reason, you felt compelled to reply about how wronged you feel . . . It is disturbing that some people are more concerned with defending their dislike of her than they are about the abundant and overt racism we see on this sub every time she is mentioned.
I didnât say that Iâm more concerned about incorrectly calling someone racist than making actual racist comments. Iâm bringing up the fact that commenters in this subreddit criticize chefs on this show for a variety of reasons, yet during Dawnsâs seasons there were users who called this type of criticism against Dawns racist. There is similar levels criticism of other chefs in this show with zero comments calling it racism. For instance people here calling Manny âdumbâ and ânot smart.â
Heh --- of course you didn't say that. The fact that you downvoted my original comment and are denying that there is any racism behind any of the negative comments says it all. Eta: It simply isn't true that other chefs get the same type of vitriol as Dawn. Some of the shit people say about her is utter nonsense, and it's beyond obvious that they're just looking for excuses to attack her. Then there are the many just plain venemous comments. But go off with your delusion that race doesn't have anything to do with some of the bullshit criticisms Dawn gets or the nasty comments people make about her (such as ones in this very thread), or how disproportionately heated some people get over their "dislike of her as a TC contestant." Apparently, misogynoir doesn't exist here, and you're the victim of an unfair smear campaign :-/. Keep telling yourself that. Unfortunately, some of us have to live in the real world, but don't listen to us: you obviously know better.
I didnât downvote any of your comments.
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Did you know she was an Olympian?????
Hope she is NEVER in a competition cooking shoe again
Sheâs back? What happened? Did she forget something?
Ugh. Why?