Top Chef, Season 4

Tom:
[to Ryan]. I'm not quite sure why you chose a dessert, and also a dessert I would never think it a million years to see at a tailgate party.

Ryan:
I wanted to have a whole dining experience at my table. And that's where I was hitting. I wanted to be able to say "Okay, so somebody doesn't eat chicken, but, wow there's a dessert. And you know, doing a dessert, I don't think was too left-field.

Gail:
I don't think a dessert is left-field. I just think poached pear with [crème fraîche]and huckleberry sauce was a bit left-field. I just think there would've been more options that would've been more appropriate.

Ryan:
Personally, I wanted to cook the way that I think I would personally like to see at a tailgate. I don't eat heavy. I don't eat ribs. And I thought of these people and said "Cool, I'm gonna serve chicken. Instead of serving something on a bun, I'm gonna do it in the application of a salad form."

Gail:
The bread salad that I got was almost all bread. And I guess I was expecting for it to be sort of moist and found it really dry.

Ryan:
I dissected a tailgate party and the caliber of people that I'm cooking with, and I'm looking at them, and I'm like "I have to do something different." You know, the people that came up, everyone was super sweet at this event. Ladies coming up for recipes, and "How did you make this?" and "Why would you do that, and this and that." and "Wow, pea stew on top, finishing a chicken." "This is quite interesting. We love it." And bringing in, I hate to use the word "California flair-"

Tom:
But, this challenge was not about that. This challenge was about simple food, to the masses, in the form of a tailgate.

Ryan:
Yeah, totally fair.