Top Chef Season 6

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TC6, Ep. 11

The Guest Judge was Nigella Lawson, British food writer, journalist and broadcaster. The Quickfire was "Breakfast in Bed", a room service meal at the Venetian Hotel in 30 minutes for Nigella and Padma.  Knives were drawn to determine the staggered cooking schedule:

1. Robin - Blintz with Goat Cheese, Caramelized Pineapple and Blueberries
1. Eli - Fried Egg Reuben Benedict with Thousand Island Hollandaise Sauce
2. Kevin - Steak and Eggs with Creme Fraiche, Aged Cheddar, and Green Onion
2. Mike V. - Huevos Cubana with Banana Puree, Rice, Bacon, Arugula Salad
3. Jen - S.O.S. Creamed Chipped Beef with Toast and Potatoes
3. Bryan - 4 Minute Egg with Vanilla Beurre Fondue, Crab, Asparagus Spears and Corn Polenta

I liked the visual appeal and meal content for Eli, Kevin and Bryan and considered the others to be somewhat uninspired. Of course I did not get to taste the food. Nigella did not like the taste of Robin or Bryan, whom she put in the Worst category. In the Best category were Eli and Kevin. Eli won due to the robustness of his meal. His prize was to have the only recipe from Season 6 in the top Chef Quickfire Challenge Cookbook, which will be a compilation of recipes from all seasons of Top Chef.

The Elimination Challenge was to use a specific Las Vegas Hotel as the inpiration for a meal. Here's what the chefs drew:

Bryan - Mandalay Bay, with a theme of the Shark Reef Acquarium
Eli - Circus Circus, with a theme of novelty and circus snacks
Kevin - Mirage, with a theme of a tropical oasis
Mike - New York New York, with a theme of serving the New York Fire Department
Jen - Excalibur, with a theme of the Tournament of Kings dinner and the Sword and the Stone
Robin - Bellagio, with a theme of its art work

The menus developed for cooking tasting portions for 175 guests with 3.5 hours to cook, then prepping at the World Market Center for 1 hour:

Bryan - Escabeche of Halibut with Bouillabaisse Consomme, Parsley Coulis, and Garlic Chips
Eli - Caramel Apple Peanut Soup with Popcorn Raspberry Froth
Jen - NY Strip with Red Wine Reduction, Beets, Truffles, Herbs
Kevin - Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon with Napa Cabbage and Cucumber
Mike - Boneless Chicken Wing Confit with Curry and Blue Cheese Disc
Robin - Panna Cotta

When I saw these dishes, I wondered what had caused Eli to go so far out on a limb. Robin's pannacotta looked too simple to really please the judges. Jen was playing it really safe with NY Strip Steak but that is not the way to be competitive against some stiff competition. I expected to see Bryan, Kevin and Mike rated as the Winners' group. The Winner was Mike due to his broth, the comfort nature of his dish and Toby's view of the unexpected pleasant contrast of the hot and cold. Toby rated Kevin's Thai flavors as very tasty.

That left Robin (a multi-episode bottom dweller), Jen (a recent bottom dweller) and Eli. Padma did not like the taste of Eli's dish nor did Toby and Tom rated is a "mess" but it appeared that Eli's sin was overreaching with a wild concoction. Jen's sin was being boring (Tom). She did not use enough spices. Robin's pannacotta was too solid. She claimed that she was no expert at serving a "smear". Tom criticized her for pannacotta being too simple to make, even though her execution was still faulty on a simple dish.

Given the tone of the ciriticisms, I honestly thought that any one of those three could have been eliminated. However, the judges made an intelligent move in eliminating Robin, whose time on Top Chef had probably been extended by the producers to have some controversy.  

At this point the Winners' group are the favorites for the final 3. Jen dug herself a deep hole and seems unable to pull herself out of it. I consider Eli to be the least talented of the 5, but he is capable of an upset to reach the final 3.





 

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TC6, Ep. 12

This episode opens with Bryan, Mike, Jen, Kevin and Eli left. Bryan, Mike and Kevin have all been quite consistent at the top. Jen was there early in this competition but has recently been near the bottom. Eli has been all over the place and is clearly the weakest of the remaining chefs.

The Quickfire uses Gavin Kaysen as the Guest Judge. He won the James Beard Award and represented the U.S.A. in the 2007 Bocuse d’Or biennial competition for top young chefs in Lyon, France. Each team consists of two chefs, a lead chef and an assistant chef who must be under 22 years of age at the time of the competition. The team has 5 hours and 35 minutes to prepare two elaborate presentations, a meat dish and a fish dish in an open “culinary theatre.” No vegetables may be pre-cut, although teams may pre-peel garlic, portion oil, salt, flour and other ingredients, and bring stocks made in advance. The jury consists of 24 renowned chef judges who make their evaluations based on the level of perfection in the presentation, in terms of technical skill, cooking sophistication, creativity and visual beauty. The jury is divided into two groups of 12, each half to judge either the fish dish or the meat dish. 2/3 of scoring is quality and 1/3 is presentation. Gavin Kaysen finished 14th in the 2007 competition due to a bizarre situation when he should have been near the top.

The Quickfire is to create a Protein within a Protein within a Protein dish. The model dish provided by Kaysen was crayfish within chicken within chicken in a ballotine. A ballotine is a piece of meat, fish, or poultry that has been deboned, stuffed and then rolled and tied into a bundle. It is then usually poached or braised. I bet you didn’t know that one either. Here are the dishes that were created in 90 minutes:

Jen - Calamari Steak, Scallops, Salmon, Shiitake, Shiso with Rice Noodle Salad
Bryan - Rack of Lamb and Merguez Sausage Wrapped in Caul Fat
Mike – “Poultry Terrine" Chicken with Turkey and Bacon Mousseline
Kevin - Cornmeal Fried Fillet of Catfish with Scallop and Shrimp
Eli – Bacon-Crusted Breakfast Sausage with a Six-Minute Egg Center

One comment from Gavin was that Mike did not really understand or do a protein within a protein within a protein. The winner of this Quickfire is Jen, who bounces back from her funk in the nick of time. There was no Losers’ group. Her prize is an advantage of 30 extra minutes to cook in the Elimination Challenge.

The Elimination challenge is the top chef version of the Bocuse D’Or. They have to prepare one protein and 2 garnishes that are expected to be extraordinary in taste, creativity and production. The protein is either lamb or Atlantic salmon. They will have 4 hours to cook (except Jen 4.5 hours) in the Wynn Resort Alex Restaurant. The 12 judges will include representatives at past Bocuse D’Or competitions plus Thomas Keller (legendary chef/owner of the French Laundry in Napa Valley), Tom, Padma and Gail. Included are Daniel Boulud, Alex Stratta (owner of the restaurant Alex the episode is filmed in), Gavin Kaysen, Timothy Hollingsworth of the French Laundry and Traci Des Jardin. One special judge is Jerome Bocuse, son of the legendary chef. He was part of the final judging group which Thomas Keller opted out of.

The dishes created are:

Jen - Salmon and Caviar, Shrimp Flan,Truffle, Celery Root, Shiitake mushrooms 
Bryan - Crusted Lamb Loin, Lamb Shank Crepinette, Orzo Au Gratin
Mike - Salmon with Cauliflower Chickpea Tart, Zucchini Tzatziki; Mike called this a Mediterranean salmon platter
Kevin - Poached Lamb Loin, Sherry-Glazed Beet, Asparagus in Sunchoke Cream, pepper jus
Eli – Sausage (made from leftover parts), Wrapped Lamb Loin, Carrot Puree & Tomato-Piquillo Canape

The winner will get $30,000 cash from the M Resort, a place in the finals, a Bocuse d’Or jacket, some culinary books and the right to compete for a place on the 2011 U.S.A. Bocuse D’Or team. That’s quite a total prize, the best ever for one episode of Top Chef that is not the finale. It sure beats the cars that were getting their winners beaten in the final rounds of some early Top Chefs.

The cooking is staggered so that only one chef owns the kitchen at any time. It is served on these huge glass platters because that is the way it is done in the actual Bocuse D’Or competition. Tim Hollingsworth was there because he had recently done this type of competition.

Comments from the judges throughout the tasting were:
Thomas referred to Mike’s dish as lamb undercooked and tough. Tom says it’s not Mediterranean in any way. Jerome said Eli’s lamb was undercooked.
There was general agreement that Kevin’s dish was overcooked and all others undercooked.
Jen’s problem as noted by Jerome was that her cutting of the salmon was not of uniform thickness so different parts of her fillets cooked at different rates and the top and bottom was uneven.
Gail liked the garnishes on Eli’s dish. Padma stated that the worst lamb was Eli’s.
One of the judges said Mike lost on flavor.
Someone rated Bryan’s cooking as “improper.”
Kevin was criticized for the simplicity of his dish in a Bocuse D’Or environment where ultimate refinement is the goal.

All 5 chefs were given the opportunity to defend their choices. After this was done and the decision judges (Jerome, Tom, Padma and Gail) deliberated, Kevin was the winner. He declared that “the M Resort is my favorite place on earth.”

Tom delivered the summary to the other 4. Eli was told he was competent and solid (damning with faint praise?). Jen was told she had uneven cooking due to her salmon cutting. Bryan was told that he had the most interesting ambitious goal, but his lamb was undercooked, which he attributed to being just a little short on cooking time. Mike was told that his cucumber tartare was not up to the standard.

The judges decision was to eliminate Eli, certainly a reasonable decision based on his past culinary production and warranted no doubt by his undercooking in this Elimination Challenge being the most severe.

Next week the competition moves to the Napa Valley for the penultimate episode and the finale the week after. There were previews of the chefs cooking in the Napa Valley Wine Train. There was also a shot of a restaurant and I am going to hypothesize that the finale will be cooked at the French Laundry.