Or, none of us was really good but none of us were really bad, either. Can we get a cookie for that?
The Quickfire: Create a dish that satisfies Tom & Padma and their babies--8 and 2 months, respectively. Yummy "normal" and pureed. Good luck! Immunity is off the table, and they have 45 minutes to cook. I was surprised by how many chefs have kids - sooo m/paternal!
Within the first 5 minutes, Alex wants to win Creepiest Cheftestant (sorry KT!). Babymaking talk, mentioning hookers...sorry. Tamesha sounds like she's all clogged up--feel better, girl! Stephen's daughters look just like him...sorry, girls.
Disappointing dishes were from Timothy (overcooked lamb), Alex (too herbacious and watery), Kevin (pool of blood under the duck), and Kelly (bland!).
Favorites: Lynne (hasn't won yet, CIA instructor); Tamesha (nice touch with the licorice oil); Angelo (baby food looked elegant and special); Kenny (great flavors, a little spice). Tamesha is Tom's pick an Padma goes with Kenny - $10,000 each, but again, no immunity.
Elimination Challenge: Create a signature menu dish for Hilton Hotels, easily executed, portable, and delicious. The chefs will make breakfast, lunch & dinner courses. After each meal, two teams get saved, and the others move on--the opposite of Chopped. Mike I, Bryan Voltaggio, and Spike are all in the house--some of DC areas finest, along with someone from Hilton who I already forgot (but she looks nice). Bryan was my favorite contestant of the three--handsome, humble, charming (at least via Bravo's editing). ::blush:: Plus, I dig his food.
Highlights from breakfast: Ed was kvetching about Alex's dish, and then he forgot to put the potato cake on one of the plates. Um, ok. Three teams in, and no one hits it out of the park. Tim and Tiffany had the best looking dish (Louisiana-style eggs Benedict that "didn't need the potato hash"), and along with Amanda and Stephen (bacon-filled something or other) they had the best breakfasts. Who said you can't taste with your eyes?
Lunch is next: No one bombed flavor-wise, but some things didn't seem like they'd travel well or be easy to make. The best lunches were Angelo & Tamesha (thin-sliced beef with kimchi vinaigrette), and Ed & Stephen (scallops, rabe, etc).
Dinner: 60 minutes to cook dinner, and they're cooking for their lives. Two out of three teams make short ribs. And someone "accidentally" turned down Lynne's oven. Kenny & Kevin's has crispy horseradish and is well-liked by the judges. Andrea & Kelly have better short ribs. Pineapple red curry mussels with squid ink pasta from Arnold & Lynne, and the pasta isn't cooked enough. That's funny, because Lynne was barking about how it would be overcooked.
The winning team is Kelly & Andrea--getting to the dinner stage actually helped them, because the short ribs were shining. Those saved at breakfast were unlikely to win Dish of the Day, let's be honest. They win all kinds of traveling swag. And it's Kelly's second win--remember when she was a bossypants?
Kenny & Kevin underglazed their short rib, and Lynne & Arnold cooked complicated food, except for the pasta, which they didn't fully cook. Neither dish was a flop, and Arnold & Lynne get the axe. I was sick of them both anyway.
"I don't know what people might say, but they might think I'm more than a Louis Vuitton bag." -Arnold gets Best Quote, and what does that even mean?
Favorite #topchefdc tweet on my feed was from ElyssaK: What the hell is Padma wearing? I looks like the vest you wear when getting x-rayed. #topchef
And Amanda? Still annoying. Why she was messing with Kevin in the stew room when he's got a head on the chopping block, THAT I do not know. Leave those people alone to...stew.
Performance of the day hands-down goes to Mark Renshaw. Oh wait, he's from the Tour de France. Regardless, today Mark delivered Cav, the Manx Missile from the Isle of Man, with near perfection. Follow Mark on Twitter. Check him out at 8:45.
So no big WOWS this week (in Top Chef, that is), and no big fails either. I'm still not in love with anyone. Be more interesting; the angerball routine is old, and the overconfidence (Andrea: I was named best new chef at yada yada; Angelo's very existence) are just irritating. Maybe that's what makes a great chef? If so, I don't want any chefs as friends. Ever.
Yay! New recap! I was looking for it yesterday, and got sad.
ReplyDeleteI just didn't understand the way the elimination challenge worked this time around. I didn't like it, and thought it was stupid that an entire pair had to go home. Also, I thought it was stupid that Amanda didn't go home. And I also find Alex very, very creepy.
Blogger ate my comment. Bon voyage to Arnold and Lynn glad to see them go too.
ReplyDeletei've come to the realization that alex was cast more so for his quotes than for his cooking. he likes to practice making babies, what can you do.
ReplyDeleteit made no sense that the winners of the trips were the ones who had to cook all three meals, i.e. they were the best of the losers. that made no logical sense. lynne, who i didn't even know was on the show until this episode, was very irritating with her pasta.