Top Chef:All Stars 4/23/20--"Get Your Phil" summary

Previously on “Top Chef”: the loved ones came for a visit, to eat some good food and explain to the contestants over the phone what the dish looks and tastes like so they could replicate it. Kevin won, because even though his wife is not actually a chef, she has an eye for detail and a very sensitive palate. Then everyone had to make some kind of product to sell, sauce or whatever. Also make a dish showcasing it. Lee Anne's mom did get sick, and almost fainted, but it was not as immediately serious as the previews acted like. Melissa sold the most product, but Gregory was actually the winner for his pickles. Jen made ginger sauce but the texture was gritty and in her dish she mixed it with yogurt which diluted the flavor. So she was sent home. (click for more)

On Last Chance Kitchen, Tom said Jen and Lisa should make sauces and he'd make the protein. Lisa's sauce was too thick and Jen's was too thin, but Lisa's was declared better. Also Tom told her next week someone was coming back to the competition.

OK also when I went to the website to watch Last Chance Kitchen and What Would Tom Do? I had a lot of problems finding the newest episodes, because Bravo's website has always been garbage. They had Tom and the host doing the Quickfire, but they did not have Tom doing the Elimination challenge and making a product. But it's there now? Get it together, Bravo. Anyway, Tom made eggplant relish and put it on lamb chops. But he put raisins in it so imma have to pass.

In the show previouslies they focus on Bryan totally screwing up the Quickfire, for some reason. I mean, they didn't even explain what the Quickfire was. It's weird is all.

Everyone gets up early. Nini and Malarkey compare crystals? Sure. Melissa gets sucked in and says she's superstitious so why not.

Padma is waiting for the Quickfire with Chris Bianco. No one freaks out a lot, but it does seem like they know who he is. The Quickfire involves using flour. There is a big table with probably two dozen types of flour. None of it is all-purpose. No immunity for the winner, but you will get $5000.

30 minutes to cook. Melissa tells us that some of these flours won't make any gluten, so that's a thing. Bryan is making something without a ton of flour in it, but he's made it before. Gregory has tapioca flour, which I think he's used before because he's gluten-free. Karen sets something on fire. Malarkey is attempting the ice cream machine again. Coconut flour? Is that a thing? Lee Anne is making buckwheat dumplings, although she says that there isn't any gluten so she's got to modify. She won't take the risk of baking because it's so precise and you can't open the oven to check on it. Nini has her grandmother's recipe for rice flour crepes. As much of a recipe as she has because of course there really isn't a written recipe. Stephanie has corn flour and she wants to make gnocchi, but she's not sure it will work. Bryan has a lot of things happening. Malarkey's dough is really not working. In the end he doesn't get all his stuff on the plate.

Lee Anne: buckwheat polpette with brussel sprouts, kimchi, apple, and fennel. Polpette is a meatball? Eric: roasted cassava and cornmeal porridge, with black cod, pancetta. Gregory: nutty tapioca pancakes, blueberry compote and maple syrup. Stephanie: blue corn Parmesan gnocchi, chipotle, peas, cabbage, and tomatoes. Bryan: roasted sole with hazelnut Kalamata olive crumble. The flour is only in the crumble. Karen: spinach falafel with carrot mint tzatziki. Nini: “banh xeo” Vietnamese rice flour crepe, soy sauce glazed mushrooms, delicata squash and shrimp. Melissa: duck fat almond flour financier, smoked shoyu whipped butter and pink peppercorns. Kevin: cornbread with Umbrian style beans and greens, pancetta, fennel, olive oil. Malarkey: so he didn't get his donut on the plate so he's describing it to everyone. Sigh. Coconut ice cream with coconut cracklin. No donut. Padma says his ice cream was lovely and he brags to the room about it.

Obviously Malarkey is in the bottom. Bryan is also, because he didn't use enough of the flour. Melissa made beautiful financiers, Gregory made complex pancakes, and Nini had a personal dish with a great texture. The winner is Gregory. He's glad for the money because he's opening a restaurant and can use all the cash he can get his hands on.

Padma tells them to step it up for the Elimination Challenge: celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the LA Philharmonic. They'll be feeding the conductor and 60 members of the orchestra. They all draw knives for taste profiles. Each chef has to pair up with someone that has a different taste profile, and they'll make a dish that showcases both tastes. So salty/sweet, or sour/umami, or whatever. Then Padma lets them pick their own partners. Karen and Nini immediately hold hands and pair off. They have sour/umami. Kevin and Melissa have salty/sweet, which should be no problem. Bryan and Eric have bitter/sweet, which could be interesting. Lee Anne ends up with Malarkey, and they have bitter/umami. She's nervous because of how he tried to throw her under the bus that time. I mean...he had a point, and last week was the first week she'd done well practically this whole season. Padma then drops the bomb that this is a double elimination. So hope you're happy with your teammates! The last pair not shown is Gregory and Stephanie, and based on the other pairs they should have sour/salty. Nini was eliminated on a double elimination last time so she's not thrilled. They're all going to go meet the conductor right now, and then they'll have two hours to prep and cook tomorrow.

On the way to meet the conductor of course everyone talks shop. Gregory didn't pick based on tastes but on the fact that he's worked well with Stephanie before. In confessional they're very relaxed. Stephanie tries on Gregory's leather vest and they giggle. All the teams are chatting about stuff, but the shot of Lee Anne and Malarkey is just them sitting there not talking. The concert hall is that one with all the curves, that I'm pretty sure causes a ton of problems because the sun reflects off the curves and blinds drivers and heats up the condos nearby. The inside is really nice though. They all have a nice conversation about balance and contrast, and various people talk about classical music and inspiration. Melissa acts worried, which is hilarious because on the surface Kevin and Melissa is the team to beat. Outside there is brainstorming. Eric is putting in some East African maafe caramel. Maafe is peanut stew. Bryan is excited about it. Everyone is getting along, except of course Lee Anne and Malarkey. Lee Anne at least knows they both have problems with editing.

Shopping seems more frantic than usual. Lee Anne and Eric fight over the endive, and Lee Anne wins. Bryan is also using his second choice for proteins. Melissa says cabbage looks like the ceiling of the concert hall, but they have to elevate it. Karen says she and Nini are very focused and are blending their two styles. Malarkey is buying things for a backup plan? When Lee Anne asks him what something is for, he actually just says she'll see. That's obnoxious.

Two hours to cook. Melissa and Kevin are braising cabbage with some pork crumble? I guess. Bryan is very excited about Eric's caramel recipe. Gregory interviews that it's hard to make a dish with only two flavor profiles. Stephanie knows that Malarkey and Lee Anne is a dangerous combo. They do fight about the plating, because she wants him to reign it in, and of course Malarkey does not want to do that.

Judges are here. The conductor says he got his job because he was imitating the conductor, who saw him and asked if he wanted to be his assistant. Stephanie is worried about the double elimination. Gregory and Stephanie: sour/salty: sea bass glazed with miso, mirin, sake, with sauteed celeriac, pickled apples, bacon, and yuzu. Tom says everything in this dish is salty and sour. Not just, some things are one and some things are the other and you have to have a bite with each component to get the idea. Every item in the dish has both flavors in it. Also the broth is spicy which they all discuss if it belongs.

Kevin and Melissa: sweet/salty: fish sauce caramel roasted cabbage, with apple and cured pork crumble. Padma tells them she's glad they focused on a vegetable, and then once they're gone she says she loves that there's a punch of flavor the minute you put a bite in your mouth. Everyone seems very excited, probably because the dish just sounds interesting. It's exactly the kind of thing I would order, because I like the way it sounds and it piques my interest. It's addictive.

Malarkey's carrots are not on the plate. The ones he wouldn't explain. Lee Anne and Malarkey: umami/bitter: beef with miso anchovy hollandaise, bitter greens, charred orange puree and mimolette crisp. Mimolette is a type of cheese. When Padma asks how they got along Malarkey gives a non-answer. It's well balanced, and Gail says that it might be the best food from the two of them this season. It's not overdone, which they can both do.

Eric and Bryan: sweet/bitter: pork with maafe lacquer with bitter greens. Gail says it's very subtle, but it could be sweeter. The crust has a bunch of flavor, but there's not enough of it. Uh oh.

Nini and Karen: umami/sour: tomato broth with poached cod and pickled cucumbers. It's light and delicious, but the tomatoes are not umami like they intended. After service Padma hollers at the chefs that it was a good meal, and tells the instrumentalists to break a leg.

Judges' Table. No one is told top or bottom. Everyone says they loved working with their partner, even Lee Anne and Malarkey. Padma says all the dishes were great, but the winning dish stayed closest to the flavor profiles, and that's Melissa and Kevin. I told you guys. Lee Anne and Malarkey were close to winning, which is impressive. It had a subtle bitterness which was wonderful. They are safe. Stephanie and Gregory had a good balance of sour and salty, but the spiciness was too much. They're still safe though.

So the bottom is Eric and Bryan, and Nini and Karen. Nini and Karen used fresh tomatoes, which weren't umami as they intended. Karen says that they were compressed with fish sauce and lime juice, but they just got sweeter. Bryan and Eric had good bitter flavors, but they were lacking sweet. Bryan thought the pork lacquer was sweet, but they painted it on the outside of the pork loin and sliced it, so there wasn't as much of it on each plate.

Time for deliberation. It's very nitpicky today. Karen and Nini actually amplified a third, unwanted flavor (sweet) which took away from the flavors they wanted. Eric and Bryan didn't have enough of one of their flavors. Back in the Stew Room everyone talks about how hard this challenge was.

Tom talks about a tortured music analogy, and then Nini and Karen are eliminated. Aww. But come on. Did you think they'd keep those two over Bryan and Eric? I certainly didn't. Padma tells them not to go anywhere just yet, because they have the chance to get back into the competition tonight. Tom sheds his suit jacket, puts on a chef's jacket, and says that Last Chance Kitchen starts right now. Hilariously he tells the other judges he'll take it from here.

Next time: machetes, restaurant wars, everyone has to pitch their restaurant, Stephanie from season 4 is here.

Last Chance Kitchen. WHICH, I watched on YouTube because Bravo's website is trash. We watch Karen and Nini get eliminated, and then the peanut gallery shows up. Karen whines that she is really tired. Tom asks the reigning champ to step forward, and Jen acts like she's going to pretend to be the winner. Tom gives them shit and asks if they thought they'd have to fight everyone, and Karen is like, who the fuck knows? Fair. Tom brags that he even cooked steak last week, and Karen asks if he got judged. “Your steak was our least favorite steak today.” Ha! Anyway, there are two challenges between them and going back. If you lose the first challenge you're out. Karen and Nini were supposed to do umami and sour, but they gave sweet and sour. It was a good dish but it didn't follow the challenge. This challenge, however, is to make a sweet and sour dish on purpose. The top two move on to the next challenge.

30 minutes. As they run around Joe says something “girls”, like, “27 minutes left, girls” or something. Karen is immediately offended and tells him to say “chefs” and then says “Where I'm from they call me chef”. Joe says he didn't want to say “guys” is all. Lisa has a sweet/salty/spicy sauce she makes on her food truck. Going to put it on some scallops. Nini is thinking steak and onions? But she's going to put fennel and passionfruit on there. The peanut gallery tells her not to include the passionfruit seeds. Karen has shrimp and grilled pickled pineapple. Lisa feels very confident. Nini is marinating three steaks, just in case. Apparently good, because when she puts the one steak on the grill it flares up and she has to toss it.

Tom Time! He asks what's up, and the peanut gallery says they think they're doing sweet and sour dishes. Heh. Karen has a lot of things going on and Tom doesn't really have comments. Lisa has a complex sauce, and jokes about deep frying her scallops. Nini also has a ton of things going on. She forgets about her steak, so it's burnt on one side. She's down to her last steak, which she has decided to deep fry. It's not looking good. Karen is worried she's too simple.

Karen: sweet and sour shrimp with pickled pineapples. Nini: skirt steak with caramelized onions and grilled fennel salad. Lisa: tamarind scallops with kaffir lime potato chips. Tom says that one dish was better than the other two, nicely balanced, and that was Karen. Huh. It wasn't heavy, which you can get when you do sweet and sour. Nini's sauce was sour, but the steak was undercooked. Lisa wanted sweetness from the scallops. Tom does not say if she succeeded.

We wait to find out who won until part 2. Thankfully this episode is working on the Bravo website. Anyway, it's going to be Karen vs. Nini. Nice. Bye Lisa.

Both Karen and Nini talk about how much they want to win. Tom says that the cool thing about Top Chef is being part of the Top Chef family. So you're cooking family meal for everyone. Tom also keeps talking about using odds and ends, because you're thrifty, and sometimes there's themes, but do whatever you want. 45 minutes to do whatever you want. Make however many dishes you want.

Lisa reemerges to the peanut gallery. Someone asks if anyone is making dessert, and Nini says no one has time for that. Nini is making chicken curry and mango salad. She wants to cook it until the fat separates. Karen has whole fish and lots of herbs. She almost wipes out running to the stove. Her confessional is about how she's not concerned with hurting herself, but with being hurt enough to have to quit, because so many people sacrificed so she can be here. Karen's confessionals really irritate me.

Tom Time! Karen says she's going to attempt pasta, in addition to whole fish and a salad. Tom is shocked because he says family meal is boxed pasta. When Nini says she's making curry, Tom says that's perfect because Padma isn't here and his curry standards aren't nearly as high. Heh. The peanut gallery is setting the table. Karen does know it's not a good idea to make pasta. I think she gives up and uses dried pasta. Karen interviews that she assumed that she's not going to win because Nini's curry is going to be too good. I don't like this edit. Karen admits to Tom she had to use dried pasta, but he doesn't care. She's also deep frying the fish, which seems fancy or whatever. Nini goes to plate and discovers it's scorched. How? It's boiling in a sauce. She says she's done, and everyone's seen that it's burnt. Jen tells her to pull it. So now the sauce may be torched too, and everyone is suggesting how she can fake it. Somehow it doesn't taste burnt so she's going to go for it.

Nini: green curry chicken with delicata squash, green mango salad, and jasmine rice. Karen: crispy branzino with salsa verde, aglio e olio pomodoro with balsamic roasted fennel. Nini says that curry is great to use up scraps. Tom says it doesn't taste burnt. She saved it. They do like it. Karen says that a whole fish is the epitome of communal eating. Karen and Nini aren't eating because they're too nervous. No one wants to be Tom.

It was simple food but good. The curry was great, and the mango salad complimented that really well. Karen's pasta was necessary, and she didn't batter the fish which was nice. Tom's going with what was the best dish on the table. Karen wins. She breaks down ugly crying immediately. I'm shocked they told us who won. The fish was amazing. Nini is happy for Karen, but she understands why, because she burnt a lot of things. But the good part of this is that Nini is now the winner here, so she'll battle the next person who gets eliminated.

On “What Would Tom Do?” first the host swigs wine directly from the bottle. Then Tom gets experimental. He's going to do bitter and sweet, bittersweet roasted beets, artichoke and radicchio salad. I think he should just get assigned two profiles. He makes artichoke broth, reduces beet juice, and admits he doesn't know 100% where he's going with this. So a roasted beet, then the artichokes, and radicchio leaves drizzled with the reduced beet juice. Tom says artichokes make everything else taste sweeter.