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Top Chef All-Stars

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apskip:
TC8, ep. 8

The Quickfire was judged by a special guest judge, the chefs themselves (no doubt an economy move by the producers), who were asked to rank order the dishes of every other chef. It was to create a unique fondue using a variety of ingredients already in the Top Chef Kitchen. Immunity will no longer be applicable for any of the remaining episodes, but there was a prize of a 3 night trip to Napa Valley, including a special tour of the Terlato Family Vineyards. The fondues presented were:

Angelo – walnuts, endive, goat cheese fondue w/ beet juice shooter
Antonia – smoked salmon on toast, fromage blanc, crème fraiche
Carla – beef tenderloin + shrimp w/ coconut lime curry sauce
Dale – rare beef pho, peppers, onions, charred ginger, bread, lime, sriracha, broth
Fabio – blini (Russian buckwheat pancakes) w/ caviar, fromage blanc
Mike – spiced lamb kabob w/ feta cheese fondue, mint, chili
Richard – chocolate w/ bananas, ras el Hanout, amaretto, in liquid nitrogen
Tiffany – apple fritters w/ ricotta cheese and chocolate
The losers’ group was Fabio, Tiffany and Mike. The winners’ group was Carla, Dale and Angelo. Dale won the prize.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs were asked to go to Rockefeller Center NBC Studios, where they arrived for a taping of the Late Night show with Jimmy Fallon. The challenge was called the cell phone shootout, involving a screen with flashing images of Jimmy’s favorite foods and the chef using a cell phone camera to take a screenshot of what would become the dish he or she would have to make for Jimmy’s birthday party (his 36th birthday was on 9/19/10 when this episode was probably taped). The assignments which resulted of quite mundane food types were:

Angelo – pulled pork
Antonia – beef tongue
Carla – chicken potpie
Dale – Philadelphia cheese steak
Fabio – hamburger with French fries
Mike – peppers and onions
Richard – ramen noodles
Tiffany – chicken and dumplings

The chefs generally accepted this challenge as translating into embellishing the basic items with special flavors by adding ingredients to the basics. They had 45 minutes to shop in what looked to me like a large deli rather than Whole Foods. The Night Show announcer Steve Huggins told the chefs that Jimmy does not like mushrooms, eggplant or mayonnaise, not a huge list of ingredients to avoid. After a night’s rest, the chefs had 2 hours to prep at Colicchio & Sons, where the celebratory meal was being served. The dishes presented were:

Angelo – pulled pork in a sauce of coffee, dill and cilantro, chipotle rub, dill slaw
Antonia – beef tongue on pumpernickel rye w/ onions, pickles, dill slaw
Carla – chicken potpie w/ pea salt, carrots, herbs
Dale – Philly cheese steak on pretzel roll w/ cheddar cheese sauce, peppers, onions
Fabio – hamburger w/ melted cheddar cheese on the side and French fries
Mike - sausage, peppers, onions, garlic, fennel, paprika
Richard – ramen noodles w/ seared pork belly, duck legs, duck egg
Tiffany – clear soup with broad flat noodles, poblano peppers, red peppers, cilantro

Diners were:
Judges Tom, Gail, Padma and Anthony Bourdain, plus Jimmy Fallon
Fallon Family – his wife, parents, sister, mother-in-law     
Late Night staffers – announcer Steve Higgins,

Comments while dining included:
Fabio – cheese on the side very strange
Dale – way too salty

At some point, it was announced that the winner was going to have a cooking segment on the Late Night show. Later, it was expanded to include a 6 night trip to
Tokyo with accommodations at the Tokyo Hilton and airfare worth $5,000.

The winners’ group was Carla, Antonia and Angelo (almost the same as for the Quickfire). The losers’ group was Tiffany, Fabio and Dale. Here were the comments at Judges’ Table about their dishes:

Tiffany’s chicken potpie – not dumplings but broad flat noodles in soup
Fabio – hamburger had no juiciness; cheese sauce on the side absurd
Dale – too much salt destroyed this sandwich
I told my wife I thought it could be any of these 3 eliminated. Perhaps because he was also on the bottom for the Quickfire, Fabio was eliminated although Tiffany was also on the bottom of the Quickfire.

tory:
 :'( :'( :'( i can;t belive fabio went home over dale.....

kiki:

--- Quote from: tory on February 10, 2011, 09:53:29 AM --- :'( :'( :'( i can;t belive fabio went home over dale.....

--- End quote ---

I don't like it either. Although I would have prefered Tiffany to go home, atleast Dale has presented some good dishes and he is more fun to watch.

apskip:
Fabio is the best Front of House individual on Top Chef All-Stars (TC8). However, he was only 4th in TC5 and I felt that was fair. He has frequently been in the bottom half of performance for the TC8 culinary tasks, although whenever FOH skills are required he has shined. Do not confuse a sparkling personality (which he has) with being an all-around Top Chef.  Fabio is limited in the types of food he likes to cook (witness his inability to do a simple burger) if the cuisine is not Italian, where he is an expert.

Dale was not a top performer in TC4, where he finished 6th. However, in TC8 he has been consistently near the top. In the Quickfire of episode 8 he won the 3 night trip to Napa Valley. I expected that he would get the nod to stay in over both Fabio and Tiffany, both of whom had been on the bottom in the Quickfire as well as the Elimination Challenge. So, why was Fabio eliminated instead of Tiffany? I cannot tell you because I didn't get to eat the food. However, I recommend that you read the blogs (when posted, usually several days after the episode) that Tom Colicchio and Anthony Bourdain do on www.bravotv.com as they give a lot of insight into why decisions were made.

TexasLady:
I was surprised as well. Seems to me that a salty sandwich would be the deciding factor since it was inedible.  :duno:

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