Top Chef 5/19/22--"We're On a Boat" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: Sarah returned from Last Chance Kitchen and all the contestants went to Galveston. The Quickfire involves a seafood tower, but they have to make it outside near the beach and hope they don't get sand in everything. Evelyn won for putting her own spin on everything, and she was given extra time to cook during the Elimination Challenge. The chefs were told that there was a family coming for vacation, and they would each be assigned a family member to cook for. Several people read their instructions and realized they were cooking for their own family members. Very cute. Buddha made pasta amatriciana, the dish he had the first time he ate his wife's cooking. It was rustic and the perfect timing to do something rustic instead of crazy and he won. Ashleigh didn't cook her squid long enough so she was eliminated. (click for more)

We start immediately after the last Judges' Table, where Padma says the next challenge is the last one they'll have in Texas. Tom tosses them some motion sickness tablets so it's boating. Sarah now has time to overthink her dishes. She was the star of LCK and now she's back on the bottom. Nick is very proud of where he is now.

In the morning they head to the docks to meet Tom and Dawn. Damarr has never fished before. No Quickfire today, just fishing. Whatever you catch today will be what you serve. You must make two dishes with two different preparations. Tom says if they don't catch anything, they will have some money to buy something. But they only get $200 and that also has to pay for whatever other ingredients they get from Whole Foods. 2.5 hours to cook tomorrow. I kind of wish they had to fish, clean, and cook today, so they could serve fish they caught that morning. But I'm guessing all the extra time the production takes makes that impossible. Oh also there are a million guest judges to feed too. Stephanie Izzard is here and Daniel Boulud.

They all go out and no one seems seasick right now. They make them use live fish for bait which is kind of mean but also who cares. Tom gives Damarr advice. I've been fishing before, but I'd listen to Tom's advice too. They sit out there for like 90 minutes with nothing, so they move the boat. This works, because Evelyn is the first to catch something. There are seven people coming, so she'd like more than one fish obviously. Then Damarr catches a huge redfish and he is too excited. Hee. I love fishing episodes because yeah, you still need to do well, but there's a lot of just hanging around and chilling. Everyone is catching redfish, and Evelyn does too so she's glad. Poor Sarah has nothing. She asks Tom if she can buy his fish, and honestly I think he should let her. What's he going to do with multiple 25-inch-long fish? Eventually after like three hours Sarah catches something. Everyone's got redfish and a couple of people have catfish.

Everyone has to clean their own fish. They can purchase things too but I don't think anyone is buying any seafood. Sarah is asking for advice from the fishmonger because she's never cleaned a fish this big before. Think of how big a salmon filet is. You can imagine how big the whole fish is, right? That's about the size we're talking here. Nick keeps saying that his fish is too big, and it's tough and blah blah, so he is actually buying a smaller redfish that will be more tender. I think it's like $70 and also they're farm raised. OK I lied, I think everyone is buying more fish from this guy. Damarr buys some snapper and crab.

Now they're going back to Houston, which means the fish has to travel too. When they get back to Houston, they talk about how multiple people are making tacos. Evelyn is making tortillas and soup. Damarr says the closer you are to winning the more painful it is not to win.

Now is shopping. They show how much money people have left, and it looks like everyone spent at least $25 at the fishmonger. Sarah is trying to be smart about her shopping, because she thinks this is what has caused her problems in the past. She buys too much? Nick squeaks in just under budget.

Time to cook. Sarah is getting going on a broth. She keeps saying “pseudo crudo”. But she knows how to do two dishes at once, from LCK, and the key is to pre-plate. Evelyn is making redfish al pastor. Interesting. I think Buddha is stuffing his fish with shrimp? Both he and Nick are brining filets. Damarr is trying to be restrained. But also make some Asian food which he doesn't usually do. Sarah is smoking some fish so it will be like pastrami? Sure. Buddha is back to creative techniques and wrapping fish in spiralized potatoes. Nick is making tortillas because he won a Quickfire with making tortillas, right? Sarah burns something and Evelyn is nice and warns her. I think people are being helpful. Buddha has run out of potatoes so I'm not sure what he's going to do. I think this group of chefs is the type to want to beat everyone at the top of their game, not let people fail by not speaking up. Evelyn asks Buddha a question, as he's talking out loud. I'm not sure if it's a producer-prompted question, like all the questions they ask each other about “What are you making?” and “How is that sauce coming along?” and whatever. Anyway, Buddha says “Not now, please” which is unusual because people very rarely refuse to answer those questions. But he's freaking out because he's serving first.

Buddha: “fish in chips”--fried flounder wrapped in pastry with vadouvan sauce and potato gribiche. The other dish is steamed bull redfish with shrimp farce, stuffed with ginger, scallon, and radish. Farce here is another word for stuffing. The redfish is amazing and the other flavors are delicate. The flounder is satisfying, although it's a tiny bit dry. Gail doesn't care because the vadouvan sauce is delicious.

Evelyn: caldo de pescado with poached redfish, chipotle, cilantro oil and roasted vegetables. Also taco al pastor with roasted redfish, pineapple and avocado salsa. The soup is humble but it really wakes you up. Tom wanted more fish in it, although he likes the flavors. The pineapple in the taco is great, but the tortilla is dry? It sounds like Dawn says “vague” which makes no sense, but she then says it sucked the moisture out of the taco so I guess it's dry? I think she did fine but maybe too safe.

Sarah is really flailing and the judges can hear her yelling. Sarah: “pseudo crudo”--pickled gulf snapper with silken tofu, fermented greens and kraut broth. The second dish is “pastrami sandwich”--smoked red drum with pastrami spice, carrot butter and Parisian gnocchi. The tofu and raw fish make a great texture, and Tom loves how she put sauerkraut juice in the broth. Plus the broth is warm and the fish is cold, which is a nice contrast. They cannot say enough good things about the pastrami fish. It's just like a pastrami sandwich on rye.

Nick's fish cakes are falling apart. He says he never made his fish binder? So that sounds like he forgot ingredients. He's got to plate, and he's running around flailing. Honestly the dish clearly isn't a fish cake but it does look like a mound of flaked fish mixed with things and it looks edible. Maybe I'm not picky enough. Nick: fried redfish taco with pickled peppers and smoked tomato crema. The other dish is supposed to be smoked redfish cake with lemon beurre blanc and mushroom ragout. He admits to the judges that he ran out of time. There should be more herbs on the taco and the fish cakes are clearly not good. The fish tacos are seasoned well, but overcooked. And the tortilla is dry too. The herbs could have saved it. The fish cake is again seasoned well but clearly a failure.

Damarr: snapper crudo with apples, radish and coconut vinaigrette. Also blackened bull redfish with marinated vegetables and herb salad. The crudo is bland, although the vinaigrette is a vibrant green so it looks beautiful. The blackening seasoning is lovely and that fish is cooked well, but he put peanuts in the sauce and they were gritty. It's a good idea though.

Judges' Table. Sarah and Buddha are the top two, which means they're both final four. Sarah had delicious, fun dishes. Buddha made complex dishes but the flavors all worked together. The winner is Sarah. She says it's surreal and she loves to cook alongside people like this. In confessional she jokes that if she had known winning felt this good she'd have done it a long time ago.

Evelyn gets singled out for playing it safe. She can make a taco in her sleep, and the tortillas were thick. But the soup was bold. It's a little too basic for Top Chef, but she's through to the Final Four. She's gonna put on her resume that Daniel Boulud had her taco.

Padma says that either Nick or Damarr will be going home, but if y'all watched the last season of Rupaul's Drag Race you'll know why I'm skeptical of this statement. They've had final fives before. Damarr tried to do something different. The knife work on the crudo dish was perfect, but it was bland. He was trying to just put the fish in the sauce and keep it delicate. Padma wants more from him. He says he wanted papaya to go with the blackened redfish, but he couldn't find any, and then Daniel asks him if it was supposed to be like a pesto or something. They talk about the peanuts in the sauce. So another person getting yelled at for being too safe. Nick clearly had time management issues. There wasn't enough sauce on the tacos and they were really dry. The sauce could have brought some brightness. The fish cakes were a failure too, but we all know that. He explains that he only used the “chunky” portions of the fish and not the “blended”. “I was mixing them both so it could have the actual fishcake versus what you guys had today”. Tom nods and says that makes sense so I guess it makes sense to chefs? I can't tell if he was supposed to mix them or not. The beurre blanc was lovely but the rest of the plate was hard to understand.

Padma lets Nick and Damarr have last words. Nick says he wants to thank the judges for the opportunity, and Damarr basically says the same. Although Damarr says he's grown as a person. I mean did you think they'd shit on each other? This season was cast for talent and not drama and it's super obvious.

Both Damarr and Nick just messed up. Damarr's first dish was underseasoned, and Gail did not like his second dish. Padma argues that he highlighted the fish better. Nick's taco was terrible, and the second dish was not anywhere near a cake. Back in the Stew Room Nick is saying how he and Damarr needed each other, to have someone like you who looks like you to cook with. Aww.

Tom says something about always being part of the Top Chef family, even though only one person can win. Nick is eliminated. I for real waited to see if Padma was going to say “pack your knives....because you're going to the finale!” Nick interviews that this is not a failure. He's grateful and appreciative for the journey. He's proud of how far he's come. Damarr is crying, because he's really bonded with Nick. Padma congratulates them all, and says they're going to Tuscon. What is special about Tuscon? Who cares. It's close to Texas, right?

Next week: some local vegetables, Sarah spilling her ice cream mixture everywhere, the usual amount of chaos.