Topic: Top Chef Season 3

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There seems to be little interest in Top chef 3 commentary, but I will give this another week before I throw in the towel due to talking to myself.

EPISODE 5

Guest Judge is Maria Frumkin, owner/chef of French Bakery Cafe and Duo Restaurant.
Quickfire is to use Frozen Pie Crust in 90 minutes.

Hung makes a mousse of chocolate cream with bananas and spicy peanuts. When it is runny, he uses strawberries as a moat.
Joey does a trio of tarts: berry; roasted mango; warm apple compote
Lia does pork tenderloin plus aged gruyere salad
Howie does peach tart tatin with black pepper
Tre does fennel apple tart tatin
Dale does spinach and salmon en croute plus strawberry, pear and saffron tart
CJ does duck lollipop and duck tart
Brian does 4 tarts: vegetarian; seafood; chorizo; fruit with grand marnier
Sara M. does braised swiss chard and rabbit stew plus goat cheese, feta and fig tart
Casey and Sara N. are not mentioned.

Losers bracket is Lia, Dale(he is really surprised), and Hung(this time he keeps his mouth shut when criticized).
Winners bracket is Joey, Tre and Sara M. Immunity goes to Joey, who had the best flavors.

The Elimination Challenge is to cater a Latin Lunch for the cast and crew (20 people including the judges) on Star Island for Telemundo Telenovella "Dame Chocolate".
Contestants have $125 and 30 minutes to shop and 3 hours the next day to cook. Serving will be at the site buffet-style out of chafing dishes. Tom Colicchio comes in at the start of cooking time to throw in a pre-planned monkey wrench designed to test the nerves of the contestants - the lunch has been moved up by 1.5 hours and they now only have 1.5 hours to cook. Panic ensues and everyone starts moving in a much higher gear. Hung nearly whirls into Casey with a large knife. Tom talks to Howie about his pork(does Howie do anything else?) and tells the camera that if he were presented with this challenge he would switch from braising to roasting, which Howie is not doing. Dishes chosen were:

Joey - black bean stew with shrimp, lobster, chicken and chorizo
Lia - smoked rainbow trout plus polenta cakes
Howie - braised pork
Casey - mole-style coffe molasses sauce over chicken and rice; while cooking the rice she allowed it to boil over and she knew it was overcooked
Sara N. - avacado, shrimp, scallop ceviche
Hung - arroz con pollo
Dale - grilled poblano
Sara N. - Chilles rellenos
CJ - skirt steak, black beans, jicama
Tre - prawns with coconut sauce
Brian - don't know

At Judges Table Lia was criticized for not following a Latin theme. Also it was noted that her polenta was left on most plates.
Casey's overcooked rice was noted.
Joey's dish and Howie's excellent flavors were both singled out for praise. They end up in the Winner's Group. Howie wins a bottle of Argentinian wine form Frumkin and gives to to Joey, who stated that they would share it together that evening.
Loser's round composed of Lia and Casey was no surprise, but Hung was shocked to be there and Sara N. was the fourth. Casey's coffe flavor was judged as not Latin and tasting like cough syrup and her chicken was dry. Sara's fault was that the inclusion of scallops made in not a real ceviche. Note that Hung and Lia were double losers, so one of them was going to go home. I was rooting for this to be Hung, whose rice was dry and underseasoned, who was not safe with his knives, and who has been arrogant throughout, but he got lucky. Lia's failure to do Latin food and her poor polenta plus no doubt her poor Quickfire made her the eliminated contestant. Casey was upset because Lia and Casey had become close friends.







 

[TexasLady]

There seems to be little interest in Top chef 3 commentary, but I will give this another week before I throw in the towel due to talking to myself.

Oh please don't stop. I'm reading!! I couldn't watch last night so I want to read your synopsis. You do a great job with the, I appreciate your perspective.
 

ETA: See? Read 355 times! You are being read, we just don't post and say anything.

[TexasLady]

I watched this afternoon. Thanks for the great commentary. I was wondering if Howie knows how to make anything else other than pork myself. Hasn't he done this for every competition?

About Hung, from the first he has been arrogant, but he seemed to be so talented that he was in my top tier of chefs. He has steadily gone down and if he didn't cheat in the competition, with the oven being cooled down, it seemed to be pretty close.

Who would you rate as the top 3 most likely to be in the final competitions? I'm thinking Tre, Howie and possibly Joey.

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I would agree with Howie, Tre and Joey as the final three based on what we have seen to date. They have the most consistency in creating and executing good flavor dishes. Hung has been poorly rated for the past several weeks in a row, so it's clear that his self-image is unjustifed by his cooking performance. The women (Casey, Sara N., Sara M.) have all been in trouble recently and none has been a consistent high performer. The other men (CJ, Brian, Dale) and Hung have each had their turn in the sunshine, but none has done so more than once; any of them could stage a comeback.

[TexasLady]

Hung has been a disappointment, he is arrogant and that has come to the judges attention and not in a good way. Marcel and Stephan have their character flaws, but both are excellent chefs, Hung seemed to heading down that path but he isn't up to their caliber but he thinks he is. Maybe if he calms down and concentrates, he can show us how good he really is.

None of the women have made much of an impression on me but we still have time to see if they can shine.

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SPECIAL Q&A EPISODE

Participants were the Judges (Tom, Padma, Gail, and Ted) plus:
Season 1 - LeeAnne, Harold, Dave
Season 2 - Ilan, Sam, Cliff, Michael
Season 3 Already Eliminated contestants - Clay, Sandee, Micah, Camille, Lia

I have to say as an overview that this was an excellent show with more good insights that you would expect from this type of quasi-reunion.

First up was a nomination from the each judge of their favorite dish from the past. They were Tiffani's pork dish, Ilan's Spanish concoction, Harold's kobe beef, and Sam's ceviche/Howie's pork.

Next were famous lines from Top Chef. I missed the first one. Next was "Tom eats like it's Top Surgeon," referring to his method of cutting only a small piece for himself so that there would be plenty for other judges. "Gail shows her culinary knowledge" is often used because she does go out of her way to display what he knows. Tom is fond of saying "This is Top Chef," not top sous chef or top sommelier or whatever. "There's always a finger to be pointed." Examples were provided, but I find this one a little obscure.

Harold was cited by Tom as a chef's chef. His new restaurant Perilla was featured in a brief segment on this show. Harold was asked what type of competition he would like to participate in with any of the asssembled individuals. He said the only one that interests him would be a Smackdown against the Judges.

One of the questions was "Is Stephen for real?" Gail defended him and so did Harold, who proclaimed him to be a highly articulate chef.

There was a segment on the competition at the Aspen Food & Wine Challenge, where Ilan as the Season 2 winner was pitted against Jacques Pepin in a 20 minute Quickfire. Gail was Ilan's sous-chef. The audience voted strongly in favor of Jacques but Gail said Ilan had done really well.

Notable on-screen battles were briefly acknowledged:
Stephen vs. Candice
Howie vs. Joey
Miguel vs. Ilan
Marcel vs. Betty
Marcel vs. Sam
Marcel vs. Cliff
They also showed a brief clip of Cliff vs. Marcel, which got Cliff eliminated for his behavior. Cliff was asked to explain what had happened back then. Tom made the statement that "It was unfortunate because Cliff had a god shot at winning." I challenge that statement as pure rubbish, since Cliff's dish already partially reviewed at Judges' Table was certain to be worst and cause him to be eliminated the morning after the hazing incident did it to him first.

There was an incredibly funny parody done just before that incident happened. Ilia and Elia were playing the judges and Marcel, cliff and Sam were the contestants who cooked up a mock meal and were judged by the normal TopChef standards. You had to see this to believe it!

The comment was made by a questioner that TopChef contestants seem to drink a lot. Tom defended this because they are pretty much sequestered and do not have a lot of options.

There was a focus on Padma's dress segment. It's hard to criticize showing what you have when you are an actress with a body like that. Pamda defended herself by saying that on the show all she gets to do is think, speak, eat, and demonstrate the contents of her wardrobe.

One listener proclaimed Tom a member of the Bear community. Ted explained that this is for burly gay men. Tom stated that his wife and son might not appreciate this honor.

The least successful segment of the night utilized Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Drepression, Acceptance with examples from TopChef.

Contestants were asked how their fame had affected them. Michael answered that he had not had to buy a drink in over a year.

[TexasLady]

Thanks for the summary! I didn't get a chance to watch and wondered what I missed. Good job! I'll have to watch it sometime today. 

I THINK that Rocco will be a guest judge for the next episode, that should be interesting. 

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They did announce that Rocco will be Guest Judge next week. That wasn't in my notes because it means nothing to me.

[TexasLady]

They did announce that Rocco will be Guest Judge next week. That wasn't in my notes because it means nothing to me.

No problem! Supposedly he is a brilliant chef when he wants to be and according to the blog at Bravo, Hung should be very careful, if Rocco tells him his Arroz Con Pollo sucks, he better take a long look in the cold cruel merciless mirror. 

[TexasLady]

apskip: It's a good thing you posted the Q&A session, the DVR did not catch it!!  I hope they replay it.

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EPISODE 6 starting with 10 contestants

Guest Judge is Rocco Dispirito, who shows up on Bertoli commercials during the show.

Quickfire is really interesting. It is a Culinary Bee. Items are presented to each contestant in turn. They have to look, taste, or touch it to identify the item. They have a nominal 5 seconds (really more like 10 seconds) to decide, but whatever they first say is their answer. The first round eliminates all but Howie, Brian, Hung and Casey. Hung goes out on 2nd round, Brian goes out on 4th round. Howie last to the 5th round but eggplant does him in. Casey wins by identifying roasted red bell pepper. She gets immunity for the Elimination Challenge.

The Elimination Challenge is comceptually simple but could prove difficult in execution. Bertoli frozen meal in the bag that are cookable in 10 minutes are the target. Create the equivalent Mediterranean dish by buying ingredients, cooking for 2 hours, then assembling for 1 hour, then heating at a remote location for 10 minutes. 15 meals are to be prepared and most will be offered as takeaway meals(although the contestants don't know this) after shoppers sample them. Knives are drawn to get 5 two-person teams:
Dale/Casey
Joey/Hung
Sarah M./Dale
Tre/CJ
Sara N./Brian

Dale/Casey choose meatballs as their protein, orechiette as their pasta, and add pesto and artichokes.
Joey/Hung go with tri-colored fusilli(Hung wanted penne), chicken, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes.
Sara M./Howie elect shrimp with a pasta sauce created from scratch by that master of Italian cuisine Howie.
Sara N./Brian do chicken with rigatoni, olives and peppers.
Tre/CJ do chicken, black truffles and linguini.

At the final 2 minutes, Casey/Dale had time available and helped Sara N./Brian finish on time.
The prep was marked by dissention between Joey and Hung. Hung wanted to do a number of things, including Individual Quick Freezing, that would have led to an improved dish. Joey just ignored him because, as another master of Italian cuisine no upstart was going to teach him anything. The result was a dish that had mushy pasta because the sauce was absorbed into the pasta before freezing.
Similar dissention happened between Sara M. and Howie. Sara doesn't work very hard or fast and Howie had little respect for her efforts, so he pretty much ignored her.
The only team that did use the IQF technique was Tre/CJ, who explained that the one hour assembly time gave them the opportunity to do so by allowing time to unfreeze.
Casey/Dale sold their boxes first. Sara N./Brian were a close second.
Hung/Joey and Howie/Sara M. were the teams clearly in trouble. My fearless prediction at this point was that Sara M. would go home.

Padma noted during the serving period that Howie/Sara M. had two large blocks of not-unfrozen stuff in their cooker.

The competition for best was between Dale/Casey and Tre/CJ. CJ noted that he had not won anything yet. That changed tonight as Tre/CJ were the winners of an expenses paid trip for 2 each to Italy (coutesy of Bertoli).
Brian/Sara N. were noted to have a good dish.
The losers bracket was between Hung/Joey and Howie/Sara M. as both had terrible flavors for their dishes. Rocco referred to both as "depressingly bad."
Hung tried defended himself in a way that clearly marked Joey as a jerk. Tom was not happy about that.
Howie was asked why fusilli when Sara said she had wanted a different pasta but deferred for the first of many times to Howie. Howie answered that it had a shape that catches sauce.
Tom asked Sara what she contributed. She said she wanted a mirapois and tomato paste added. Howie said her real contributions were fennel. Tom's summary was that Sara's contributions were practically nonexistent.
Padma said that neither team could sell free food.
Joey was identified as difficult and bull-headed.

The big moment came and I was pretty sure from the editing that it would be Sara to go as she had the biggest negatives and no positives while tom's summary comments about Joey were mild. However, the decision surprised me as it was Joey selected to go home. He was very emotional on departure.

 

 

[TexasLady]

Thanks again for another excellent recap! 

I was surprised at their decision, I thought it would be Sara, they even went to her before Padma announced the decision. She has never impressed me and Joey has done well in the past.

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EPISODE 7

Guest Judge is Govind Armstrong, a chef/owner of the Table8 restaurants in Miami and Los Angeles and author of the book "Small Knives, Big Nights."

An ice cream cart is on display to start the Quickfire, which is to create in 45 minutes a new flavor of ice cream. Govind cautions the contestants to "Keep it Simple." Based on what happens, he forgot to add the Stupid to the end.

As has become the editors' practice, only 4 out of 9 were shown here. Dale had flambeed peach with pecans and a topping. Howie had marinated mixed berries. Both of them were in the winners circle. Dale wins and discovers later that he gets a bye on the Elimination Challenge plus a meal at Table8 with Govind.

Casey had siracha sauce and poblano, a very strange set of ingredients. Hung had 7 different flavors in his. Govind found both to have violated his "simple" rule and classified them as Worst.

The producers of TopChef3, who I believe are Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, pull a nasty stunt next. They fake the entire group of contestants except for Dale into believing they are going to Miami Beach in the limo to have a night of downtime. When they arrive who do they find but Padma and Govind waiting for them. The Elimination Challenge starts immediately with most of the contestants dressed for a night out. This was definitely not appreciated. Knives are drawn for two teams:

Orange is CJ, Casey, Sara N. and Howie
Black is Tre, Hung, Sara M. and Brian

Teams have 15 minutes to plan, 30 minutes and $300 to shop, then 1.5 hours to cook before their mobile kitchen unit starts serving late night bar food at 146am. Menus are chosen as follows:

Orange Menu
Cuban Pork Sandwich with Plaintain Chips
Beef Sliders with Caramelized Onions
Quesadillas with Salsa
Spicy Ceviche Taco with Shrimp and Scallops
Milkshakes
Cafe con Leche

Black Menu
Teriyaki chicken Wings
Onion Rings
Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Cheese Grits
Oysters on the Half Shell
Ceviche

CJ made the claim that he was a professional volleyball player for 3 years and that it ought to be possible to get similar teanwork among chef contestants. However, his team had an ongoing feud between Howie and Sara N. that he did nothing to solve and Casey appeared to stick her head in the sand about it. The end result was that Sara N. ignored advice from Howie that putting ice cubes in milkshakes was a terrible idea and complaints from Howie that her productivity on beef sliders was too low to allow them to keep up with the notoriously fickle late night bar crowd demand. In addition, both dishes had serious flavor issues. Casey had excellent flavor on the quesadillas.

The Black team had higher producitivity and better overall flavors and they won the competition. Tre was the winner of the Elimination Challenge with his cheese grits and bacon-wrapped shrimp. He won the above-mentioned book.

The Orange team was the losers. Casey and Sara N. both complained about being forced to compete in going-out attire.  The judges had some nasty comments for each of its members. Sara's burgers had insufficient salt. CJ failed to lead. Casey stayed in the corner and let others deal with the conflict when she might have been able to help solve the grill productivity problem if she had exposed herself to what was going on more. Howie was responsible for a lack of communication not just with Sara N. but with everyone who has been on a team with him. Sara claimed a personality conflict with Howie.

Tom summarized the situation by saying that both of Howie and Sara N. could not remain and the choice had to go to the one least endowed with skills for future tests. That was clearly Sara, who was eliminated.  

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EPISODE 8
Guest chef is acclaimed French chef/owner Daniel Boulud, who was written the book "Letters to a Chef" in addition to running multiple restaurants in the U.S.
Quickfire is to be inspired by the Red Robin Adventuresome Buger menu and create a burger recipe that is worthy of being on it. Contestants have 30 minutes.
Burger creations are:

Howie - black truffle with taleggio cheese
Sara M. - crab with citrus remoulade, orange and endive salad
Casey - patty melt with port-salut cheese and onions (she tried to be very basic)
Hung - shrimp with tempura flakes and shiitake bacon
Brian - shrimp, scallops, sea bass with sweet chili glaze
Tre - Surf and Turf Ciabatta Burger with horseradish sour cream
Dale - tuna and asparagus with fried egg, using soy aioli
CJ - scallop mousse and shrimp with tangerine

Losers are Sara and Tre.
Winners are Howie, CJ, Dale, and Hung. CJ is chosen as the best. However, Padma had announced before the quickfire that there would be no immunity for the entire reminder of the competition. Despite that, she tells CJ that he will get a valuable advantage. The Elimination Challenge will involve teams of 4 and he gets to pick his own team. He picks Tre, Brian and Casey (probably the best 3 available). That leaves Sara, Hung, Howie, and Dale for the other team.

Elimination Challenge - Restaurant War
Teams have 24 hours to get a new restaurant started from bare wood(they do have the kitchen equipment in place). They have to name their restaurants and state a concept. They have to choose a General Manager/Front of House, Head Chef, and 2 Sous Chefs. They have to choose decor and spend $2500 in 45 minutes to obtain it, then install whatever is needed. They have to train a wait staff that will arrive slightly before the diners. They have to plan a menu, order food for 30 diners with $700 at Fresh Market, and cook it to impress the judges.

CJ's team chooses Restaurant April and concept New American Contemporary. They elect Brian as GM, Tre as Head Chef and that leaves Casey and CJ as Sous Chefs. Their menu is:

Oyster with granita as amuse bouche
Corn and truffle custard with seared sea scallop
Grouper and shellfish with artichoke hearts
Wild Mushroom Gorgonzola with Crusted Beef Tenderloin and Smoked Potatoes
Mango lemongrass and sake sorbet
Apple tart tatin with brandy sauce and creme anglaise

The other team chooses The Garage and concept Contemporary American Bistro(sound about the same?). Dale has the most out front experience so he appoints himself GM. Sara appoints herself Head Chef, no doubt wanting it to not go to Howie. That leaves Hung and Howie as Sous Chefs. their menu is:

Tuna Tartare with egg vinaigrette
Wild mushroom risotto with foie gras and black truffles
Braised Lamb Shank with Potatoes
Crepe with dark chocolate and Grand Marnier sauce

Judges Table opened with the revelation that there was a secret blogger who attended both restaurants and who feedback was going to be important in addition to the judges. Decor went to Restaurant April, who had light airy choices(mostly thank you to Casey). Dale had chosen black tablecloths and walls and heavily scented candles for the tables. Those decisions were heavily criticized. On service, Brian had totally failed to perform for the first half of the meal. He asked for help and Casey was dispatched to help him out front, which calmed things down. Dale's service was OK. Food was generally unremarkable except for 3 dishes:

Hung's Tuna Tartare got rave reviews.
Tre's smoked potatoes were rated as "inedible". Tre admitted that the smoker got away from him.
Howie's risotto "tasted like mac and cheese" as he had added to the arborio rice. Howie said that he does a version of risotto different from anyone else's and does not depend solely on the creaminess coming from cooking the rice.

Sara was criticized for the heaviness of 2 of the dishes on the Garage menu. She and Howie defended those choices, but you could tell that the Judges did not agree with their judgment.

Neither team won, but I thought they would select Hung as the individual winner. He actually deserved it.
The loser's group was a fake-out. They called back Dale and Brian but they told them they were not being fired.
The entire 24 hour competition was going to be redone to get a more definitive result.
I think this was a predmeditated stunt by the producers. The reason I say that is that Daniel Boulud had 8 copies of his book ready for all contestants. Traditionally the Guest Judge only brings something for the one Winner.

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I just discovered that Anthony Bourdain, host of one of my favorite travel/food shows, is blogging for TopChef 3. He has a few pithy things to say about some of the remaining contestants. He thinks, as I do, that Hung was robbed of a deserved victory in Episode 7. He also predicts that Hung is the chef to beat, which I don't. He has nice things to say about CJ and Casey from Episode 6. He really rips into Tre for his menu item of Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Smoked Potatoes, indicating that is is wrong conceptually in several different ways and then poorly executed. He thinks Sara M. did a poor Head Chef job in allowing the menu choices that she did.

However, the main commentary is reserved for Howie's risotto after knocking the fundamental decision to use cream and cheese when none is called for:
 You shouldn't put cream in risotto, says Tom Collichio (correctly, BTW) but here, too, Howie Knows Best. He has come to learn, he suggests, since "becoming an executive chef" that risotto is better with cream. It's not. Of course, observant viewers and horrified Italians could CLEARLY see that Howie's risotto was sitting up like day old spackle. And while dumping on Howie, I should point out that anytime you see a cook loading up something as potentially simple and beautiful as risotto with too many "money" ingredients like black truffles AND foie gras AND wild mushrooms, you're seeing an insecure cook, temporarily bereft of ideas. Howie's dish was unimaginative (he's done risotto before), over-killed with the garnishes (pick one, numbnuts), completely inappropriate to the climate, location, season and the progression of the rest of the meal. It was also badly executed. His "defense" of eating heavy braised and stewed dishes out of season (cause he likes to) --particularly considering WHO he was talking to -- bordered on the unhinged.

[TexasLady]

Again, we did get to see this episode while on vacation. Very interesting comment that Hung deserved to win Episode 7. I thought he would be the chef to beat and he still is head and shoulders above most of those left in the competition. Doesn't it seem that Hung is learning to keep his thoughts to himself as we get further in the competition? Perhaps he can still pull out a win. No one left really shines for me other than Hung, and that makes it tough for me to see who might end up in the final two.

I can't wait to see if they improve with the 2nd go round for their restaurants.

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EPISODE 8 Restaurant Wars continued

My wife predicted last week after seeing the brief trailer for this week episode that someone really talented was likely to get the boot. Let's see how close she is.
The Quickfire this week uses Tom Colicchio, I guess because of its nature. It is a Relay Race competition between the teams, with a reward to the winner. They have to select one member for each of schucking 15 oysters, dicing 5 large onions, cutting up 4 chickens, and beating 4 egg whites to foam. Brian (an expert in this) starts oysters against Howie and finishes with Howie still having 5 (1/3 of them) to do. Casey starts onions and is super-slow. When Sarah M. gets underway, she decimates Casey and leaves her in the dust. She turns it over to Hung, who completes all chickens before Tre even gets a chance to start them. Dale finishes the eggs quickly and it's over. Team Quatre(renamed from The Garage) has won a boost from $300 to $500 in wine spending plus the services of a sommelier. That sommelier turned out to be Stephen from Season 1 and Dale later had to ask him to tone it down because his explanations of the wines were running way too long. Casey and Brian have to pick wines for their team and Brian as Maitre D' will serve them.

The comments from the blogger and from the judges on decor were considered by each team. they get a consult with Christopher Ciccone, who was one of the diners the prior evening, about what to fix. He tells Quatre that they need the white tablecloths and some commissioned art on the wall. He tells April that they need something on the wall.

There will be two choices on each menu for each course. The menu for Quatre is:

Tuna Tartare with Egg Vinaigrette
Poussin w/ Gnocchi and Pea Puree

Lamb w/ White Beans and Haricots Verts
Beef Tenderloin

Halibut w/ Grapes and Braised Leeks

Crepes with Orange Grand Marnier Sauce
Pannacotta with Fresh Berries

The menu for April is:

Seared Sea Scallop on Corn Truffle
Wild King Salmon w/ Pesto, nuts and cheese

Chilled Carrot and Ginger Soup
Lobster Salad w/ Arugula and Caramelized Cauliflower

Beef Tenderloin w/ smoked Potatoes
Monkfish

Apple and Bread Pudding w/ Cinnamon and Creme Anglaise


Tom Colicchio took the unprecedented step of being in the kitchen for the entirety of the final food preparation. The Guest Judge is Geoffrey Zakarian of Town and Country Restaurant in New York. I have to say that his incisive comments were the best from any Guest Judge I have ever heard on any Top Chef season.  During the serving, several nasty comments are made by the judges. The tuna(Hung) was overcooked and the lamb(Howie) was not done right. The harshest comments were for the salmon and the apples in the April dessert(both Tre).  My wife and I both predicted at this point that Quatre was going to win and that Tre would be going home. Guests in the restaurants included Lia, Camille, Joey, and Sara N. They could be involved in some Elimination Challenge coming up.

The winning team is Quatre and the individual winner, based on being the key decision maker in her risky role as Executive chef, is Sarah M. Dale was not told that his attire as Maitre D' was considered low-life. April is called in and their faults are enumerated. Tre was told that his salmon was really bad and his apples were also badly done. CJ was asked why he hadn't done anything to help Tre out on the dessert since he was the only one with actual pastry experience. He was also told his lobster dish was marginal because it was too salty. Casey was told she overcooked her monkfish. Brian showed minimal leadership and didn't contribute any help to the other 3 (unlike Dale who did contribute one recipe). The main theme of what was lacking was leadership. We all know what that means. The Executive Chef is going to walk the plank. Tre is indeed selected to go home.


 

[TexasLady]

  I missed it because of doing live feeds last night, I have it DVR'd and will watch it shortly. I cannot understand Tre going home when Brian is pretty much of a nothing. I'll write more when I get a chance to view it but I'm bummed that Tre is gone!

Thanks again for your excellent recaps of the episode! (And congrats to your wife for being right with her prediction.)

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Brian was in the front of the house and did a competent job there. He was criticized at Judges Table for not providing any assistance to his colleagues in the kitchen with a recipe for one of the menu items. However, he was never in any danger because he hadn't cooked anything badly and he had done his function OK. Brian was in the lowest risk position on the team.

Tre was in the highest risk position on the team, as all mistakes of his sous chefs flowed through him for final approval before they go out to the diners. But what really killed him was that his own creations were poorly executed and tasted bad.

[TexasLady]

Brian was in the front of the house and did a competent job there. He was criticized at Judges Table for not providing any assistance to his colleagues in the kitchen with a recipe for one of the menu items. However, he was never in any danger because he hadn't cooked anything badly and he had done his function OK. Brian was in the lowest risk position on the team.

Tre was in the highest risk position on the team, as all mistakes of his sous chefs flowed through him for final approval before they go out to the diners. But what really killed him was that his own creations were poorly executed and tasted bad.

They had a repeat showing tonight so I got to watch it. I was very impressed with Sarah. She did a great job as Executive Chef, but unlike Bonnie in Hell's Kitchen, she did it effectively and it showed. The one I don't get is CJ. He does only as much as he needs to do and no more, he's been lucky so far.

[TexasLady]

WHY are they dragging this show out?  Get on with it! 

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EPISODE 9
Guest Judges are Dana Corwin (Editor-in-Chief of Food and Wine Magazine, replacing Gail Simmons this week) for the Elimination Challenge only and Michael Schwartz of Michael's Food and Drink for both.
Quickfire is The Aisle Trial. Knives are drawn with numbers 1 to 7, each corresonding to an aisle at Fresh Market. Each chef has 10 minutes and $10 to get ingredients for a creation. A limited number of items from the TopChef kitchen are available.

Sarah  does ravioli with white beans.
Howie tried two different things, but both failed to meet his standards, so he presented nothing.
CJ did potato risotto with bitter orange marmalade.
Casey did pudding with ginger snaps.
Hung did eggs with leeks and potatoes plus a chocolate drink. He was all over the map on this.
Brian did spam hash with fried egg in a really interesting presentation.
Dale did ramen noodles with hominy and queso.

Losers are Howie(no-brainer) and CJ.
Winner is Brian, who gets to decide on the team leader in the Elimination Challenge. He picks himself.

The Elimination Challenge is to cater a party for 60 guests of Esteban Cortazar who are Miami's fashion elite. The total for all 7 chefs is $350 food budget ($50 each) with 30 minutes to spend it. Brian has to carefully manage anyone who wants to use more than their share. It ends up with everyone getting approximately $50. Howie had wanted to spend $100 but was cut back. The party turns out to be on one of the Lady yachts, a real party boat that does not have  ideal kitchen facilities.

Brian allows the chefs to team up into this configuration:
Dale and Hung working together
Sarah and Casey working together
Howie, Brian and CJ all working by themselves, although CJ also has to oversee everyone else.

The menu is:
Dale/Hung - caviar mousse on cucumber;  apple and chicken curry on crostini; yoghurt puffs with cream cheese filling
Sarah/Casey - beef carpaccio; tomato bread pudding with basil cream;  a chocolate mousse failed and was not served
Howie - mushroom duxelles on puff pastry; asparagus and prosciutto cigars
Brian - ahi poke with jicama
CJ - scallop and shrimp ssausage over brioche

Preliminary comments from the Judges Table were:
Tom - this was pretty ordinary; no Wow
Michael - uninspired, flat, no pop
Dana - 80% of the iteams came out on some type of bread
Tom - why didn't Brian oversee his colleagues more effectively? Why didn't he act like a Team Leader?

At Judges Table, these were the main comments:
Tom - Brian, you thought 2 dishes were a mistake for any individual, so why did you let them proceed?
Michael - there was little color and little presentation evident
Padma - how did you like your dishes?  Howie responds that his were good
Tom - they were not very good, particularly the mushroom duxelles
Padma - the yoghurt vegetable puff pastry was too runny;  Dale- if I had been allowd to buy goat cheese it wouldn't have been
Tom - evidence of the fact that a limited budget can lead to fine results are in Sarah's and Casey's dishes
Hung is criticized by Tom for "having better recipes that he elected not to use this week"
At this point, Howie sees which way the wind is blowing and volunteers to withdraw. Padma tells him that the judges will make the decision, thank you very much.

Winners are CJ, Casey and Sarah. Casey is the final winner and gets an Apple 17" Matchbook Pro laptop.
Least favorite dishes are both of Howie's and Dale's(although Dale's wasn't that bad). The handwriting is on the wall. It isn't going to be Dale and it isn't going to be Hung. Brian is slightly in jeopardy for poor leadership(although he thinks he did well), but his food was good enough. The victim is Howie, who certainly deserved it.



 

[TexasLady]

Farewell Howie, it was time for you to go. Honestly no one in this bunch stands out as the one to beat. At least that is my perception.

Thanks as always for your excellent summation of the episode, I was involved again with Big Brother but have it saved on the DVR. 

[apskip]

Texas Lady, I agree with your overall assessment. Nobody stands out like Harold, Sam, Ilan and Marcel did in prior seasons. The one individual I thought was toast, Sarah, has made a strong comeback and is now in an even position with the rest. I give a slight edge to Hung but not much.

[TexasLady]

Texas Lady, I agree with your overall assessment. Nobody stands out like Harold, Sam, Ilan and Marcel did in prior seasons. The one individual I thought was toast, Sarah, has made a strong comeback and is now in an even position with the rest. I give a slight edge to Hung but not much.

Hung better bring his best game to the rest of the challenges. Sarah has made a good comeback. We watched last night's show today, and we could see how they could have done better. Make fewer selections and spend the money on better ingredients. I could see Casey coming close but not winning. I just don't have a good feeling for any of them, I don't see true leadership which a chef has to have.