Top Chef:All Stars 5/8/20--"Restaurant Wars" summary

Previously on “Top Chef”: Karen came back from Last Chance Kitchen, and then everyone had to make tacos with machetes. Quickfires are so weird sometimes. Almost everyone made fish tacos, except for Stephanie who won with lamb tacos. The Elimination challenge is related to tonight's episode, in that everyone has to pitch their restaurant idea for Restaurant Wars. They need a concept, a type of cuisine and price point, and they should cook at least one dish from the menu. The two winners, Kevin and Gregory, will be the executive chefs of the two restaurants tonight. While Lee Anne again was on the bottom, the judges claimed not to understand what “fine dining but not stuffy service” meant and eliminated Eric. I mean, his food was not executed well, and I get that, but they kept harping on how they didn't get if he wanted family style or fine dining or what. Compare that to how Bryan said he wanted something more casual but made a fine dining dish. They just said “he should stick to fine dining” and moved on. Just blame his food if it's bad, but this whole “what service are you talking about” is silly. (click for more)

On Last Chance Kitchen, Eric and Nini were asked to execute Tom's vision for a restaurant: coastal Italian seafood. Neither Eric or Nini have made Italian food professionally before, so they're on the same page in that sense. Tom praised both of them and then just said Nini was the winner, so I have no idea why.

Back in the mansion everyone hangs out and drinks. Gregory says his first season, their restaurant was terrible and didn't have a good concept. He chats with Kevin about how they joked last week that maybe you don't want to win this. Maybe you want to let someone else be executive chef because that person tends to be sent home more often in Restaurant Wars. Kevin says he'd rather go out in a blaze of glory, essentially. Yeah, I think most of these people would rather make the restaurant they want and go out for that instead of playing it safe.

Time to pick teams. Kevin gets to go first, and he takes Bryan. He tells us that when he and Bryan were both on their season, they tried to get each other into the finals. That seems like a thing they'd do. Plus I would trust Bryan to do what he's told. He doesn't seem like someone who will disagree and challenge whoever is in charge. Gregory takes Malarkey, to Malarkey's huge surprise. Why not take Melissa, arguably the frontrunner? Padma even asks him why, and he says because Malarkey is going to be Front of House. That's probably the best place for him. So of course Kevin takes Melissa, and then Gregory takes Lee Anne. Kevin picks Karen, leaving Stephanie for last spot on Gregory's team. Padma rubs it in that out of the eight left, four have won Restaurant Wars once. It's Bryan, Melissa, Karen...and Stephanie. As usual, one team is stacked with frontrunners and people who seem like they will all be calm team players. One team has crazy personalities and people who have been in the bottom a lot. No real jerks though, I don't think.

48 hours to create your restaurant. However, there is no restriction on how many dishes you make. Hmm. So they can have as many courses as they want? Is this because both Kevin and Gregory said they wanted family style and you can't course that? In sad news, Padma does say that after menu planning and setting up the kitchen, they have to go to the rental place for decor. I liked when they admitted having chefs decorate was dumb and hired professional designers. The winning team will get $40,000. Wow. It's sponsored by OpenTable, which is giving them software to manage the reservations. Do they serve enough tables to need a computer to keep track of it all? I guess it couldn't hurt.

In the car, Malarkey points out that if they can pull this off, they can get rid of a solid competitor from the other team. Gregory knows they're the underdog team. Karen is going to do front of house for Kevin. I think Kevin offers to do it? You can't do FoH in your own restaurant. Karen reminds us her team won in her season, and she was FoH. She thinks it's risky, which I guess it could be if you are so bad it ruins everyone's time. Kevin wants his team to feel like they're contributing, so he has to leave his dishes/cuisine open to interpretation. He says “hyper-seasonal”. It looks like Gregory is thinking six dishes. Lee Anne throws out some ice cream ideas and he says he wants something else. I'm not sure why this is here, unless we're to assume there's a fight coming about it. At the moment though nothing happens. Kevin wants four courses including dessert, although that will mean more than four dishes because of sides and so forth. If they ditch second course (and do appetizer, soup/salad, main plus sides, dessert) then Kevin thinks they will need at least five sides. He might be too ambitious.

We're back to “restaurant spaces” that are just a big warehouse with concrete and no fixtures. Everyone looks at catalogs which is boring. Kevin says that he actually has a restaurant that is very similar, so he knows the pitfalls of family style. Gregory is excited to share Haitian food with the public. Shopping at Whole Foods. Gregory for some reason is not making oxtail, which is probably what won the pitch for him. He's also worried about teaching his team to make Haitian food.

Now is the time to split up the teams for maximum dramatic phone calls. Two people go to get décor, and two are going to specialty stores. I think it's a butcher and a seafood place. Actually...while Gregory and Stephanie are at the butcher and fishmonger, we never see Bryan and Melissa shopping. They must have? But I guess it's boring? Whatever. Kevin needs a lot of plates, because of the family style. He and Karen set up a place setting on a table, and then go somewhere else. Most of the plates are on the wall in sets. Malarkey is wandering about and he takes the plates for he and Lee Anne to look at, so Kevin gets shirty with him about it. I mean, is this the argument that they always have on Project Runway where no one wants to use the same fabric as anyone else? Who cares anyway? If Kevin's mad that there's only so many plates, and they can't both use the same place settings, then OK. Or if it's all mixed up now and they have to figure out who had what. But it's not clear and it seems like Kevin just is mad they moved his stuff. Lee Anne apologizes, and then Karen doubles down and says that if the situation was reversed, Lee Anne would be pissed. She's the one apologizing so maybe calm down? She's not saying you shouldn't be mad. Maybe get pissed at the person who made a face and took the plates in the first place?

Day 2. Prep Day. Because we can't use real restaurants, they have to set up kitchens outside under tents. Like in the parking lot or on the patio or something. You can't do anything cold when your kitchen is outside in LA in June.

Kann's menu. I know it'll be more detailed later but whatever. P.S. Bravo why are these chyrons so tiny? The first course is fried green plantains and salt cod patties and...picklz? Is that the product he sold in a previous challenge? Anyway, those three dishes are Stephanie. Then Gregory has twice cooked pork, and Lee Anne has mixed salad with habanero lime dressing. Stephanie interviews that Gregory has already told them he's not adjusting his dishes. No one can put their own spin on anything. That could be good or bad. Second course is whole roasted snapper from Malarkey, and stewed chicken with white rice and kidney bean sauce from Gregory. Dessert is Lee Anne's pineapple upside down cake with rum raisin ice cream.

The Country Captain has twelve dishes. First course is a trio of canapes. Or “canapes” because I think a canape is supposed to have bread. Chicken liver mousse (Melissa), smoked trout puff with caviar (Bryan), and crab Louie (also Bryan). Crab Louie is basically crab on iceberg with tomatoes and asparagus, with Thousand Island dressing. I'm sure Bryan's will be far more complicated. Second course is Kevin's “country captain” curried chicken with yellow rice. Also so many side dishes. Melissa has fried Hasselbeck potatoes in raclette cheese sauce. Bryan has dilly beans, shrimp and grits, and cucumber pickles. Dilly beans are green beans pickled with dill? Karen has Madeira glazed mushrooms, and red pepper relish. Dessert is Kevin's warm banana pudding.

With five hours of prep left the furniture arrives. This is the part I was glad they got away from with the designers. Because now Malarkey, Karen, and Kevin are building the dining rooms. As in, Malarkey is assembling tables and Karen is cutting the shrink wrap off the chairs. There's just no reason for the chefs to have to do this themselves. Also for some reason Lee Anne is out at a florist and some other markets buying flowers and some vegetables. Why didn't that get done yesterday? Unlike Gregory, Kevin wants exactly the same country captain he made for his pitch. He says he couldn't get the same curry powder he used, so he's futzing with it to make sure it tastes the same. Lee Anne finally returns and now has to start on her prep. Stephanie has her hands in several dishes. She's feeling the responsibility of representing Gregory's cuisine. Lots of frantic working right at the end of the day. Kevin gets his team to tell him what's up, and people seem to be fine in terms of being done, except for Karen. She's behind and can't finish until tomorrow. Melissa will have to help her. Gregory is confident.

Back home, Country Captain discusses how they're going to do tickets. I mean, the way it seems set up, no one will order, you just get some of everything. So there won't be seats and orders in a traditional sense. The tickets just need a number of diners and I guess dietary restrictions. Although my guess is these people were told they couldn't be accommodated. Kevin knows the food is good, but the problem will be execution. Lots of plates coming up at the same time. Kann is getting story time from Gregory so they can understand where he's coming from. Lee Anne gets to call home and see her kid who is very cute.

Two hours to cook before service. Lee Anne says they're here to crush it for Gregory. Melissa is going to try to chop everyone's herbs. 100 diners. Bryan says that in his restaurants, when he's been in this position he would want to know more about how the front of house is going. But it's not his restaurant, so he's not doing anything about it, even though he's uneasy. Malarkey is talking to the waitstaff in his Malarkey way. Everyone just seems to be wearing whatever, and I know they don't have uniforms or anything, but I can't believe production didn't ask them to come in black? Right? Or who knows. It's possible these people aren't even waiters in the first place. Karen is running behind so her waitstaff is just sitting around. She has to have Melissa finish her dish, and she talks about not wanting to give it up. But she's not going to be plating it, so that would happen sooner or later. OK so the woman in the maxi dress, and the other woman in a short skirt I think are hosts? Because Lee Anne is in the kitchen with half a dozen people, all in white button up shirts and black pants, explaining the concept. They're tasting the menu which is nice. It looks like Kevin didn't have time for his servers to taste his food at all. Uh oh. Bryan is quietly freaking out.

As service starts, everyone seems to get seated just fine. For some reason Karen is serving? She takes two plates out, and instead of holding one in each hand she has them both on one arm. So of course she drops one of the canapes on the floor. Heh. Malarkey is too cheerful and dorky but sure. Lee Anne snaps at a server because the tickets aren't done properly. Stuff's circled when it shouldn't be? People are taking plates too early? I'm not sure what is up. It's edited like Stephanie and Gregory are watching her in horror. Karen high-fives a random woman. Melissa says that once entrees started being fired, they're getting in the weeds. The second course for Country Captain has 8 dishes. Karen spills a full glass of red wine by knocking it as she hands someone a plate. She needs to admit she's not a good server. Lee Anne is now crumpling up paper and Stephanie is done. Never berate the servers. She does seem very close to yelling. Gregory comes over and “asks” Lee Anne if she wants Stephanie to expedite. I put “ask” in quotes because from over here it's clearly not a request.

After commercial (and a shot that makes it look like Lee Anne is going to have a meltdown) she says fine. I mean, she's pissed, but she just says whatever, I'll make salads. The judges arrive at Kann and immediately notice there's no oxtail. Malarkey comes over and acts like everything is perfect and wonderful. He's so weird but it works. Country Captain is in the weeds because things are being remade, going to wrong tables, who knows. Gregory is also putting his team in the weeds because he's trying to taste and plate everything. The judges finally get their first course at Kann, but not after Tom notices how many tables don't have food. Everything is basically what they said above, so I'm not going to repeat it. Gail loves the salt cod patties, Padma likes the plantains. The pork is a little dry. It's very casual and homey in a good way.

So in the “reservation”, which I'm sure was only there for product placement, the judges noted they only have 90 minutes. Which makes sense, it's just the reservation thing is dumb. But it's taken 55 minutes for the first course to come out. Yikes. Gregory freaks out about the whole fish, because that's what they're waiting on and he feels rushed. He also says no one can help him because you can't rush it. Malarkey is still acting like nothing is wrong when the judges talk to him. Gregory literally runs out with the fish to take to the judges. Padma, probably because after so many seasons she's out of fucks to give, straight up asks him why he didn't make oxtail, because that's why they chose him. Oops. Gregory responds that he wanted to show versatility. Luckily everyone loves the chicken just as much. Dessert is fine. Maybe a little sweet. It's a very clear point of view and it's delicious. Plus they'd come back, which is very important. Tom says it feels like a restaurant, which is not common in this challenge.

Country Captain is very crowded and there are a lot of people in the lobby area. Karen says there are too many campers, because it's the kind of meal where people just want to sit and hang out. Somehow they're going to kick everyone out? Kevin is in the kitchen telling Melissa and Bryan that they're going to sit the whole dining room at once, including judges. Which implies they're kicking everyone out at once right? The dining room is a little more formal than they were expecting. The judges are also wondering about the long menu. So as I suspected, “crab Louie” is a bite of crab on romaine, with egg yolk pudding. Not canned crab on iceberg with tomatoes. The canapes are fine but they're not particularly southern or related to the concept.

The judges are noticing that tables aren't being bussed. They certainly aren't turning them fast enough. Bryan's shrimp and grits is actually shrimp and creamed corn, so I'm not sure why they called it grits before. Nowhere near the same. There's a lot of things on the plate, and the table itself is a little overwhelming with how much is on there. It looks like a buffet plate, when you get a little bit of everything. Gail really likes the dilly beans. But shrimp and corn isn't really a side dish. Also the judges can taste the different curry in the country captain. Padma says that the chicken is dry? Because the sauce didn't get into the chicken? The problem here is that the restaurant is built around the country captain and if you're going to build your restaurant around one dish, it had better be spectacular. Tom says the mushrooms are “not good”. Gail is surprised Kevin hasn't come out to talk to them. Back in the kitchen, Karen asks if he's going to bring the desserts out, and Kevin gets pissed at her and says something about “in a perfect world” and when she backpedals he just says “Judges' desserts” and points at the tray. I'm not sure why he's mad, unless it's that he doesn't have time and he thinks she's nagging him. They don't like the pudding. It looks great but it's not that great.

Kann is finally done. There was some tension but at least it's over now. Kevin's not super proud, because he knows the pacing was off. He's hopeful, but only because he has no idea how Gregory did.

Back in the Stew Room, everyone gets to catch up with everyone else. So Kann gets to find out that Country Captain had a dozen dishes and no one wanted to leave so they were behind. Karen is nervous because she had to leave her dish, and she knows front of house gets thrown under the bus a lot. Malarkey says he told everyone welcome to island time. Heh.

Judges' Table. Overall, great job. But the winning restaurant is Kann. Hilariously they say it showcased the chefs coming together to make something cohesive, when Gregory actually refused to let that happen. They didn't try to “chef it up”, it was exactly what Gregory had said. They also liked the blurb on the menu, explaining Haitian cuisine and the idea behind the restaurant. No one missed the oxtail, because the chicken was wonderful and the fish was better than the one they had during the pitch. Salad and cod patties were delicious. The beans in the kidney bean sauce were perfect. Padma tells Lee Anne that they overheard many complements about the dessert. They all want to go back. Stephanie Izzard says it made her want to go back to her own restaurant and cook because she was inspired. So they all won money, but they also win a year's subscription to OpenTable. They don't announce a winner? Well if immunity is off the table and they're going to split the money I guess it makes sense.

Time for Country Captain. Kevin thinks his grandmother would have been proud. He also says he thought about doing more dishes. You can't focus on anything with that many dishes. Bryan speaks up about how they needed a better game plan, which is kind of unnecessary. No one asked. Kevin admits he could have changed some things, but he didn't because he wanted to remain true to the “spirit” of Top Chef. Which I guess is “always go for it”. He didn't edit because his grandmother would have said “you give them everything you have and then some more because that's what you're supposed to do with your guests.” Interesting. Tom then says he doesn't think they needed fewer things, for example the canapes were their own course and they shouldn't have been? Kevin agrees. I think the complaint is that there were three of them, all little bites and not served family style. Melissa jumps in on Bryan's side that they tried to talk to Kevin but he wanted that many dishes. The middle course had so many different dishes, and things like the shrimp and creamed corn felt like their own entree. Traditionally that dish is supposed to be grits and shrimp gravy, and Kevin seems to know he made it too substantial. The country captain didn't have enough time to cook and develop flavors, and it wasn't as good. Tom says the mushrooms didn't have any flavor and they seemed steamed, and not roasted. Karen says everyone promised her they'd get her dish done, and apparently that didn't happen. Tom looks irritated. When Melissa tries to defend herself because they were all so busy, Karen goes overboard with the “of course!” and “I understand!” and “thank you for firing my dish” like she didn't just try to blame everything on her teammates. Kevin's dessert was kind of dry and sweet, and Kevin just says he was happy with it. For some reason Tom asks Karen how she thought the kitchen was going? Because there was a wait? She knows they front-loaded the service, and people sat a little longer. So she's not blaming Kevin, I guess. Tom then turns to Kevin and says “this is your concept and something really close to you, so why shouldn't we send you home right now?” Damn. Kevin says you know, honestly, I've fought for my spot sometimes, but I was taught to stand in front of my mistakes, and I would feel terrible if I threw anyone under the bus to save myself. Lots of shots of Karen. He takes full responsibility for the restaurant, whether it was his own mistakes with his own dish, or someone else screwed up and he failed to step in and do something about it. So Kevin is eliminated. Aww. He says it's absolutely the right move, and after his battle with cancer, he knows doing the right thing is very important. The captain goes down with the ship. “And I don't know about you, but I've always admired the captains that had the courage to do that, when they could have jumped in the lifeboat.”

Next week: Or this season? Whatever. Camping outside, Karen is salty because Bryan is hot and girls like him, blindfolded taste testing, Malarkey appears to quit because he forgets a plate? Someone sabotages him? Who knows. It's implied they're still going to Italy for the finale, so maybe they filmed it in the winter before everything happened.

Last Chance Kitchen. Kevin says he doesn't feel any negative emotions, but rather I think he's glad to be able to redeem himself. Nini is a little worried. Kevin doesn't think he had enough control over the concept. He still thinks he did the right thing, even though the end result is him being here on LCK. The country captain is a dish from his childhood. Tom brings out Eric, which is weird because where is the rest of the peanut gallery? It's not like everyone battled to get back in, and now they can't get back in so there's no point in them being here. You know? I want Angelo here being a dork. Anyway, we are treated to some pictures of a very young Tom with some fish and his grandfather. So this challenge is for you to take a dish from your childhood and reimagine it for who you are today. Kevin already sort of does this, but he knows Nini is a strong competitor.

30 minutes. Tom says they tried to stock the pantry really well, so hopefully they can find everything. Kevin and Nini joke about stealing things from each other. Kevin says his family used to go camping and catch trout and cook it up with whatever they'd brought with them. Including “fatback fried corn.” He interviews that he's going to save time by filleting it, because it also cooks in less time that way. Nini is making chicken with ginger chili glaze. She's going to fry the chicken, because the traditional dish of braised chicken and rice doesn't have a ton of texture. Plus pickled cabbage. Her grandmother would pack jars of pickled cabbage to send home with people. Kevin begs for a story, but Eric's story is about LCK so Kevin is not pleased.

Tom Time. Kevin talks about camping and trout fishing. He's doing filets and adding a tomato salad to modernize it. Nini is frying instead of braising. Both of these dishes sound amazing. Tom jokes with Eric that they don't have time to verify Kevin and Nini's childhood stories.

Nini: southern style fried chicken with ginger and pickled cabbage. She says she's trying to marry New Orleans with Vietnam with the fried chicken. Kevin: ham fat roasted trout with creamed corn and tomato salad. It certainly looks like a restaurant dish. Nini's dish was very her, tons of flavor, but it was in a little bowl and it was all crammed together. Tom also says he can see why the chicken is usually braised, because the glaze has time to get into the meat. Kevin's dish clearly was fancier than he would have had while camping, although the corn was a little cold. Kevin wins! Overall just a slightly better dish. Tom tells Nini there's a reason the dish is usually braised. Nini says it wasn't her day, but she didn't burn anything so that's a good day. Tom says Kevin has one more battle before the finals begin? That soon?