Previously on “Top Chef”: Dale and Begoña battled to return to the competition, by making high tea for everyone else. Begoña left off a whole component from her towers, so she went home permanently and Dale returned to the competition with immunity. Then everyone split up into two teams to make fancy picnics. Buddha told his group to think of fancy canapes, which worked and they won. The other team made some weird dishes, like sandwiches with lemon posset, and “cold cioppino”. Sylwia and Tom were the bottom two, and then they had to battle to stay in the competition. (click for more)
This battle was presented in Last Chance Kitchen, and people did point out it's not cool to force people to switch over to a different media to find out the end of the episode. Especially since Bravo's website is not good. In case you don't know, you can watch Last Chance Kitchen on Bravo's YouTube channel. Anyway, Sylwia and Tom made sandwiches and Tom won, meaning he returns to the competition and Sylwia goes to LCK to try to get back in that way.
The next day, Tom jokes that he loved the challenge yesterday, because that's how he is. Nicole is probably the only happy person, because she won last week. When they get in the cars to go to the kitchen, they really fixate on Sara, who I think is adjusting her bra after pumping. You guys could have left that part out, you know.
In the kitchen there is a giant fake phone with emojis, and Gaggan Anand, who apparently is somewhat crazy and “untraditional”. Padma calls him a “food rebel”. I'm already exhausted by how dumb this seems. It's very hello fellow kids. Anyway, choose an emoji and make a dish. OK but there are some food emojis up there and then like, a heart. Can we at least force them to not use a food emoji? That's too easy. Winner gets immunity.
30 minutes to cook. They all have to run up to grab a big fake emoji button off the big fake phone, and then display it at their station on a little stand someone had to source for this show. This is so dumb. Victoire is the last one up there, and she just takes sushi, even though she had ideas for non-food things. But she was too slow. Amar grabs plantains, because he got the banana emoji. Nicole got the one with the fake glasses and nose and mustache, but she has no idea what to do. Then why did you get it? There are still like six options up there. She is disguising meat and rice...into meatballs. Victoire is pissed, because she's just making something but she's not inspired. Guys, I don't know why I'm so irritated by this challenge, but I am. At least Buddha got the freezing face and has brought out the liquid nitrogen. Gabri out of nowhere interviews that he scalded himself badly when he was three. This has nothing to do with the fire emoji. He is making spicy food. Victoire hates her dish.
Buddha: “freezing myself to death” frozen coconut water, coconut cream and coconut sorbet with damson plum and candied ginger. It's molded into a skull. Nicole: crispy meatball, com dep stained with pandan leaf. Com dep is rice that's flattened into flakes and toasted. Ali: Ali has chosen the four leaf clover, but he calls it “the green leaf emoji”. Padma tells him he's wrong, basically, and Ali acts like he doesn't know what four-leaf clovers are. I mean maybe he doesn't. Mixed herb salad with cucumber gazpacho. Tom: creamy sauerkraut with smoked trout and amaranth puffs. He took the crown emoji and spins some story about how his dad took him and his siblings fishing and called it “kings day” but really it was “queens day” so his mom could have a break. Victoire: poached scallop and shrimp rice with gooseberries. Sara: burnt eggplant puree, gold bar squash,, and green zucchini. Somehow making nightshades goes with picking the sun emoji, except for the part where zucchini aren't nightshades. Dale: chicken noodle soup, to go with the heart emoji. Gabri: red shrimp chileatole with gooseberries. Chileatole is a soup made with corn masa, and spice. Charbel: slow cooked duck with fennel braised in orange juice. See, he got the duck emoji, that's too easy. Amar: roasted yellow plantain with miso butterscotch, Stilton blue cheese, and crispy bacon.
Ali's dish was too simple. Dale was also too simple? Gaggan says it's hard to showcase something like “heart”, which honestly sounds rude. He's basically saying he doesn't think Dale cooked with heart, which is a hard thing to judge when you don't know the chef. Padma explains that 30 minutes isn't enough time to get chicken soup to the level it should be for this show. It's a Quickfire. Victoire, who did admit she wasn't inspired, is in the bottom...because she cooked her scallops? You wanted it that literal? This is ridiculous. But Nicole is in the top because she “disguised” her flavor in the meatball? Because you just assumed it wouldn't be spicy? Even though it was clearly a meatball? Fuck this challenge. Buddha is in the top, obviously, because he's extra, and then Amar was just weird but bold. The winner is Buddha. Whatever, let's move on.
For the Elimination challenge, a bunch of waiters come out with cloches. Each person has the same dish: something laid out with a stencil in a map of the world, with different colored powders. It's supposed to represent the rainbow and tolerance and LGBT support. This feels shoehorned in. Oh and because this whole episode hasn't been stupid enough, they all have to lick the plate to eat it. What does that have to do with tolerance, Gaggan? Supposedly the colors match where the flowers or whatever are from? Buddha says you can taste that it's not a gimmick, which is possibly the dumbest thing he's said. You are licking cream and powdered dried fruits off a plate. It's a fucking gimmick. Padma says they have to make something visually stunning that you can eat without utensils, that sends a message. I'm going to be irritated at this whole episode, aren't I. Also “without utensils” means you can just eat with your hands, but I'm sure someone will do something dumb.
In the car, Buddha says he's going all out, and Amar is like of course you are. Not in a rude “you wanker” way, but because we all know it. Sara declares she's not making gelees and foams because that's not her style. Dale tells his car that he never liked Mexican food until he made a mole, and he realized it was not what he expected. He says “Canadian mole” and Nicole asks if it's going to have maple in it. OK that was good. Amar says “Thai papaya salad” that he's going to reinvent and serve to a man with a restaurant in Thailand. Gabri is making tacos, so we'll see. Charbel wants to honor Lebanon with his dish.
Only 90 minutes to cook today. Nicole starts talking about the number three, which is lucky in Chinese culture, so she is making...two pancakes and sesame chicken. Why not three pancakes. Tom is making two different mousses, to eat with your hands, but he says it'll be fine if the texture is good. Ali is making a vegetarian version of his dish (a lamb and grain fried item) because he's spoken to governments about waste from animals. Charbel is using the za'atar to make flatbread that looks like the Lebanese flag. Buddha and Tom gush about how Gaggan is the greatest chef ever. Buddha has a mold shaped like a hand? I mean it's Buddha. Victoire wants to make akara, which is black-eyed peas formed into a ball and fried. See everyone is making finger food, and no one is making you lick a plate. Gabri wants his message to be about non-transgenic corn. Gabri. Every single food crop that is mass produced, even the organic, “creole” variety you are talking about, is genetically modified. They just didn't do it in a lab. The editors do that thing where they fade in and out like he's talking a lot, until Victoire tells him to shut up. “The transgenic corn is not nutritious” OK that's not true, and also, most people can't afford to shop for your precious organic corn at Whole Foods. People need to eat. Sara says her family eats with their hands all the time. There is a lot of packing. Tom says something about a kappa, which should stabilize his mousse, and which has to be done when the mousse is frozen, so I'm expecting this to be messed up tomorrow. Dale is still making mole, but Sara points out that Gabri has already been in the top with a mole, so this is pretty risky.
The next morning, Charbel gets a phone call home. He and his brother used to sleep on the floor in a warehouse in LA. He's doing this for his family too.
There is 1 hour 45 minutes to cook today. Ali has a lot of work to do. Amar is deconstructing papaya salad, into several purees and powders I guess, and a seafood sausage. Gabri says something handheld is easy, but it's the visual part that's hard. He's making multicolored tortillas to represent “all transgenic corn that's produced around the world”. Tom says his mousses set up so you can pick them up. Ali is making up his plates, and Amar laughs in confessional that the lovely leaves and flowers are all fake plants from the Stew Room. Heh. Victoire made a cannoli instead of a puff, and she wants a potato puree? Dale is not cooking his chicken in the mole, so you can take pieces of chicken and scoop up sauce. I bet he gets dinged for that. There is a lot of dots, edible flowers, boxes, and other nonsense.
Ali: mushroom kubbeh, chickpea mousse, and pickled grape leaves. It looks like a dolma, on a bunch of leaves and edible flowers, with some dry ice smoke. It's vegan because of overproduction of livestock, and the dry ice is melting icebergs. Amar: seafood sausage wrapped in green papaya, peanut and tomato purees, dehydrated herbs, and toasted peanuts. It is two rounds of sausage at one side, then a rectangle of different colored dots, covered in green powder, with the peanuts at the other side. He says you take the sausage and drag it across the plate to get the sauce on it. His message is about how travel is the best way to know someone else's culture. Tom is thrilled because Amar would never make something like this, but he should. Ali's was easier to eat and had a good message, but Amar can watch them still eating the sauce from his plates.
Buddha: caramelized onion and black garlic puree, Brillat-Savarin (a type of cheese), shallot and bread crumble with pickled vegetables. So the hand mold is not part of the dish? It's just...cupped hands that the bowl is sitting in. Did he make the hands out of cheese? You dip the vegetables in the puree and whatever else. He says it's called “From the Hands of Mother Nature” but I'm not sure what message he's sending. Tom: ginger and turmeric mousse, pumpkin and carrot chutney, carrot and pumpkin gel. I have no idea what his message is either, but he said before service that the mousse was too defrosted. Gaggan asks if his intention is to have a dirty hand, and Tom has to say yes. The flavor is great, but the mousse and gel are not set up properly. Buddha's dip is elegant, but supposedly it's about nature's bounty so Tom wants more vegetables.
Sara: pecan pork with cocoa buttermilk. It's a pork rib with a bunch of flowers on it. She says everything is a slow cooking process so the message is to slow down and enjoy. Dale: roasted chicken thigh with corn custard, mole, pineapple, pickled jalapeno, and nuts. I do like his message about having an open mind, although he phrases it as “don't be ignorant”. It's one little piece of chicken, then round smears of sauce, and some dots and some nuts. Amar already did the “pick up the thing and drag it through all the sauces” and his plate was much more impressive. Sara's rib was sweet but not in a bad way, and Tom loves the buttermilk. Dale's chicken had a bad texture and was underseasoned. The rest of the plate was great.
Gabri: tacos al pastor with seabass and multicolored tortillas. It's a tiny tortilla that is green, red, and black, with a piece of fish somewhere and some baby corn, and a spiral of sauce. He says here that his message is about old varieties of corn that are being lost, and that's not what he was ranting about! I am all for heirloom varieties of things being preserved. But back in the kitchen he was bitching about GMOs. Victoire: cassava cannoli, textures of roots, white potato and bacon cream, pineapple and mango sauce. I have no idea what “textures of roots” are. Her message is about African food, and Padma asks if this dish is supposed to be sweet or savory. Victoire says it depends on what country you are in. Gail licked up Gabri's dish. Victoire didn't season her dish enough, although they like her message a lot.
Nicole: turmeric jianbing crepe, green onion pancake, and sesame chicken. Jianbing crepes are really good, and often have eggs cooked into them. Everyone has a little bite of chicken wrapped in I guess two layers of crepes, in a neat cylinder with sauces on top. She gets emotional talking about the number three and her upcoming adoption. Charbel: labneh with confit garlic, za'atar paste, tomato puree, chili oil, and filo cracker. Labneh is strained yogurt, so it's thick like Greek yogurt. So it's sauces on a plate, white in the center and red on the top and bottom, and a cracker in a tree shape, to represent the Lebanese flag. Nicole's dish was dry, but it was the easiest to eat and every flavor she talked about was there. Charbel had a ton of flavor, and they're very impressed that he came up with the idea about the flag basically yesterday. Tom then decides this is the best food they've had all season. They are impressed with the creativity, and I have to admit, mostly the messages were clear.
Judges' Table. Everyone has to go out, and I thought Padma was collecting tops and bottoms this season and she should keep doing that. Charbel, Ali, and Amar are the top three. Amar got al the flavors he needed to have, and he had a presentation no one has seen from him. Ali had a great message, and his dish was delicious. Charbel's dish was “alive and vibrant” and tasted different each time you took a bite. The winner is Ali. He's just glad to come up from the bottom last week.
The bottom three are Dale, Victoire, and Tom. Dale talks about making mole and how difficult it is, and Tom says the mole was fine but the chicken was flavorless and they didn't have anything to do with each other. Gaggan says something about how he's one step closer to making perfect mole? Then he brings up Ali and how he was on the bottom last episode and now he's a winner and that's what competition is? What? I do not like this guy. Victoire had a wonderful story, but her dish needed seasoning. She says normally you get potatoes and fry them, but you don't do anything else to them I guess, and she boiled them here so she could make a puree. But boiling washes the flavor out? Sure. You can still have well-seasoned boiled potatoes, can't you? Tom made a dish that you couldn't eat by hand, even though the flavors were great. They tell him if he had set the mousse properly he would have won.
Dale didn't season his chicken and the texture was weird. Plus his mole didn't have the depth that Gabri's moles have had. Victoire chose not to fry everything, and they're all mad she boiled things and “washed away the flavor”. Tom made delicious food, but you couldn't eat it with your hands. But it was ambitious.
Dale is sent back to Last Chance Kitchen. Hmm. He's not that upset, and as he leaves Amar shouts that he can come back twice, no one had done that yet.
Next week: I think it's the mise en place relay race, snarky Tom, someone completely wipes out, Padma says it's the “fastest” Elimination challenge.
Last Chance Kitchen: Sylwia is ready to fight to stay. Dale has been sent home twice now. Tom is like, wow Dale, you squandered your second chance, huh? Jeez. He says he wasn't expecting the comments, he thought the chicken was fine. Sylwia feels she maybe overthought her dish that sent her home. Tom says they will need to make an omelet. He unveils a French omelet, which is extremely simple, but with no browning and almost no flavoring. Sylwia claims she knew they were making omelets when she woke up this morning. Dale laments that he has made a lot of eggs this season. Tom clarifies that you will need perfect texture and consistency, but you can put your own spin on it.
They will only get 15 minutes to cook. Sylwia finds some smoked salmon, and Dale has spinach and some mushrooms I think. Creamed spinach? Sure. Sylwia is going to poach the smoked salmon in milk to flavor the milk? Dale puts a gang of pans on the stove so if he screws up an omelet, he has a hot pan ready to try again. Dale can't explain to Tom why he is putting spinach and mushrooms in his omelet, except for how Tom wanted them to put a spin on it so he has to do something. Sylwia makes hollandaise, and she's got small cast iron pans heating up. So her omelet is some kind of thing a famous author always ordered, although he got his with haddock. You poach the fish in milk, then put the milk and fish into the eggs, which basically makes scrambled eggs. Then you top with hollandaise, and bake. It's not really an omelet but I'd eat it. Dale starts making French omelets and adding mushrooms to the plates as a garnish. He decides with like 30 seconds left he's going to go run and get some chives so he can add those.
Dale: traditional omelet with chives, mushrooms, and brown butter spinach puree. Sylwia: “omelet Arnold Bennett”: eggs with smoked salmon, truffles, hollandaise sauce, and chives. Both of them are tasty, and seasoned well. Sylwia's is not really an omelet, and Dale's is maybe a tiny bit runny. Tom's least favorite is Sylwia's. The eggs overcooked in the oven. Aww. So Dale survives.
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