Previously on “Top Chef”: both Kaleena and Soo returned from Last Chance Kitchen, which is dumb but I guess we can't not have Soo come through because of this dumb gimmick. The Quickfire involved dairy-based desserts, because Wisconsin, and Michelle won. Then the Elimination Challenge told everyone to make “chaos cuisine”. This phrase was so poorly defined that the host straight up admitted she had no idea what was going on. It seemed to be “make something crazy” or possibly “this season is boring please help”. The winner was Danny, because he made stuffed cabbage with scallops. Is this chaotic? Tom implied it seemed calm but was chaotic under the surface. I mean sure, but no one could shut up about how technical it was. Not the same as “chaotic”. Michelle and Rasika were the bottom two, both for what seem to be execution errors. They sort of implied they might send both of them home, but in the end only Rasika was eliminated. (click for more)
OK y'all, there are 10 chefs yet and it's Restaurant Wars next week so I'm going to assume double elimination tonight.
Everyone hangs out in the morning and talks about how weird it is that Rasika's gone. Soo and Dan practice putting in the bedroom. Soo says he used to be a pro, as the editors cut in him missing a putt.
Bryan Voltaggio is here. The greater Voltaggio do not @ me. He is glad to not be working. Kristen asks everyone who does the dishes at home, and everyone raises their hands except Savannah. When Kristen calls her out she says she cooks so someone else does dishes. Fair. So this is the dumbass [product placement] challenge where the cleanliness of the plates comes into play. Make a flambe dish in 20 minutes, for $10,000. What, not the “make a one-pot dish but if you wash out the pot between components that's fine as long as you use the [product placement] dishsoap”? You could have put any sponsor here. “You are going to be hard on the pots and pans in this flambe Quickfire” is a pretty tenuous connection. Dan jokes that he might as well pack up, until he finds out the prize, and then admits maybe he'll participate. Also I'd like to point out that Kristen is wearing a black baseball-style jacket with white and red trim, and matching wide-legged track pants, and this is amazing androgynous clothing, so Project Runway please stop insisting “androgynous” either means “giant boxy coat” or “man in a skirt”.
Laura is straight up swigging from the bottles to find out what they are. Danny is saving for a house so he's moving fast. Some savory dishes here, some sweet. You have to use enough alcohol to get it to light, but not so much it's just alcohol. Kaleena says “kimchi donut” which immediately makes me perk up. It's dumb but it's exactly the kind of dumb I feel compelled to order. Amanda is flambeing everything in her dish. Are they going to dock them if they don't light anything on fire in front of the judges? Michelle wants money very badly. Kevin makes shrimp flambe all the time for company at home. Dan doesn't want to embarrass himself. Kristen and Bryan stroll back in with 30 seconds left.
Kevin: grilled shrimp flambe au pastis with fennel potato puree. Pastis is licorice-flavored liquor. Soo: flambeed bourbon, fish sauce caramel, whipped crème fraiche, brioche, and bruleed bananas. Laura: pan roasted sea bass, flambe vermouth sauce, radicchio, and apples. Manny: sauteed mushrooms with mezcal, marsala, ricotta, and pecorino, on toast. Savannah: saganaki with cheese, toasted white bread, molasses, and flambeed peaches. Saganaki is the appetizer you get at Greek restaurants where they light a block of cheese on fire and yell “Opa!” Kaleena: kimchi and scallion doughnut, bourbon-flambeed peaches and jalapeno. Danny: grilled prawns with satsuma and habanero sauce, flambe mezcal. Amanda: french toast brioche, cachaca flambeed mango, with lime, coconut, and vanilla meringue. Dan: grilled radicchio and cucumber salad with garlic ground cherry pernod emulsion. Michelle: flambeed mushroom and bacon toast, sweet potato puree, and herbed goat cheese.
Kristen says normally this is where they would tell them the top and bottom. But this is the “Ultimate Quickfire Challenge”. So they're not done yet. Why. So the top three will have to cook again. No seriously why. “Because we're making you work twice as hard, you will win twice the prize” meaning $20,000. Why not just say so? Why this dumbass subterfuge? Bryan says he wants to cook too. The top three are Danny (the mezcal gave smokiness), Amanda (had a perfect bite), and Kevin (amazing texture). So they will have to use fire again to make a dish with the perfect char.
Another 20 minutes. Danny wants to just do a simple fish, but it's still whole so he's annoyed. Amanda is making pork chops. Lots of things on the grill with high flames. No I think she's making veal? No one can believe it. As all the other chefs watch and cheer, Bryan and Kristen appear behind them to also watch. Kevin breaks down a squab in record time. Kristen walks behind the chefs working, and she has the perfect hands-behind-the-back “teacher making sure you're not cheating on the test” posture. Kaleena yells at Danny that the morning runs are paying off. He has a wire rack on top of the grill grate for his fish. Kevin has a blowtorch.
Kevin: charred squab breast with green curry yogurt sauce, panko-fried squab leg, and toasted almond. Amanda: glazed veal chop with grilled and charred corn relish and peach pickles. Danny: charred branzino with charred poblano puree and charred avocado.
Danny cooked his fish well, and the avocado goes very well. Kevin only charred the squab breast, so they want more char. Amanda undercooked Kristen's veal, but the salad was delicious. The winner is Danny. He's got $25,000 in “The Brownstone Fund” which is pretty good.
Elimination Challenge: Who's ready to play ball? Amar is here! Woo! Also “The Milwaukee Brewers' famous Racing Sausages”. This is a set of several people dressed as various sausages, who run around the warning track (I think in the middle of the 6th inning) and have a race. Why? Because every baseball team should have a dumbass thing they do that makes zero sense to everyone else. Manny says he had two white bread, mayo, and chorizo sandwiches for breakfast every morning in high school and he loves chorizo. Kristen jokes that Tom is in one of the costumes. Ha! Anyway, we got bratwurst, Polish sausage, Italian sausage, hot dog, and chorizo. For the Elimination Challenge they will have a Top Chef Sausage Race. Also team challenge! Draw knives! It's probably random! Blue team is Savannah, Kevin, Soo, Dan, and Manny. Kevin says in confessional that he hopes he's on Manny's team because they work well together, as someone in the kitchen comments “Oh, the boyfriends are together”. Savannah says “thanks guys for letting me hang out with you”. Heh. There are five men and five women left, and they've managed to get teams of 4 of one gender and one of the other. Yellow team is Danny, Laura, Kaleena, Amanda, and Michelle.
So the rules are as follows: five head-to-head innings, each featuring a different sausage. Every member of the team must make one dish. Tomorrow the sausages will race, and that's the order they will serve their dishes for Kristen, Bryan, Amar, and 15 judges. Some local chefs and “sausage experts”. Heh. Whoever gets the most votes will score one run for their team. Most runs wins. One person from the winning team will be “named the MVP”, while one (or two) chefs from the losing challenge who lost their head-to-head will be up for elimination. I emphasize that part because they didn't make that distinction for the winner. Technically everyone on the winning team is up for the win, although I'm sure it'll be someone who won their head-to-head. If your team loses but you won your head-to-head, then you're good. Oh and also no more immunity. Two hours tomorrow to prep and cook.
The teams divvy up the sausages. Michelle is still reeling from being in the bottom last challenge. She takes Polish sausage, and Amanda says everyone needs to be able to finish their dishes in two hours, because they don't know the order. But she likes Michelle's etoufee idea. No one really argues on either team about who gets what. Soo is thinking corn dogs. “Hot dogs are the vanilla flavor of all the sausages, but it's such a neutral flavor I can make it as crazy as I want.” Fair. Kevin has Italian sausage, and he wants to make risotto, and he's talking about saving the fat from the sausage and whatever. Dan interviews that risotto on Top Chef is historically not a good idea. Danny tells his team that because of last time, once you spend $200 you are done. Laura makes some noises about “moving too many things around” which is fucking rich coming from the person who spent half again as much as everyone else. Danny is staring her down as she talks, as he should. We have a flashback to her bullshit.
So they have $1000 per team, so it's $200 each again. In Whole Foods the teams figure out who they are up against on the other team. Laura is making her own sausage, which is probably a good idea, but then she laughs that this will eliminate budget problems for her team. Ha ha. Savannah is making pierogi. Zero budget issues this time. A producer asks Kevin if there was anything else he wishes he would have gotten, and he mutters “$20,000” because he's still bitter about the Quickfire.
In the morning Laura gets to call her husband. She talks about finding support for yourself, and I know the producers really want me to see her as a villain, but it's working. I do not feel sympathy and that's because I can't believe she didn't know she was going over budget during the supper club challenge and then didn't care. So you're talking about how you have to have internal support, but if you had shown any kind of thought for your team that week you'd have some external support too. I'm glad Danny is still keeping an eye on her. I do like that you can't weasel out of your plating order, the way team head-to-heads work sometimes. Like when Jamie had raw chickpeas and she just said she's not going and then ended up not having to serve at all.
Oh so they're all actually at the baseball stadium. They walk around to home plate, and if you look closely you'll see they laid out a walkway over the grass, so they could get to the baseline without walking on the grass. My choir has sung “God Bless America” at some Cardinal's games, and that is something they are very adamant about: do NOT touch the grass. Bryan and Amar hold a finish line for the sausage race. Amanda tells us in confessional that she's partial to the chorizo as the only brown guy, and then she says “SOC: Sausage Of Color”. Heh. They're not racing the warning track but around the bases. And not even all the way around! Anyway the order is: hot dog, Polish, Italian, chorizo, bratwurst.
At least they get to cook in the concession kitchens and not in a garbage outdoor kitchen. Someone says “last immunity baby!” but I thought it was over? Or is it the last one? Whatever. We get menus, which sound pretty good. Plenty of “fancy” food like gnocchi, risotto, etc. It's not like the tailgate challenge. Michelle tells the kitchen she played softball, while Amanda says she played DDR. Heh. That's Dance Dance Revolution. No one seems to be behind, or at least they're not freaking out about it. Kevin has a Parmesan and fennel emulsion somehow. Soo has Korean corn dogs, meaning they're coated in fries. Everyone packs up and moves their stuff to the field. Oh, so we're finishing in garbage outdoor kitchens? Kaleena gives up on running to the kitchen.
Looks like they have 20 minutes to finish up. The judges arrive and get settled at a two-tier seating situation. There is also Brittany Snow and a former Brewers player who now has a restaurant? I think Soo says something about not having time to fry to order, which I only mention in case it's foreshadowing.
Soo: corn dog with wasabi and jalapeno mayo. The coating is fries and corn dog batter. Danny: bacon-wrapped hot dog with braised cabbage and beet relish. Soo wins 9 votes to 6, so Blue team is up by one. Kristen tells Soo the batter was a good proportion (not too much batter) and the texture was great. Bryan says both dishes were great and this is hard. When Soo gets back to his team, they cheer him and Kevin says “That was the MSG bro!” which is hilarious to me.
Michelle knows Savannah won't slack. Savannah: pierogi with fennel and apple salad. The sausage is supposed to be in the pierogi, but almost immediately someone says they can't find the Polish sausage here. Michelle: etoufee with creamy grits. The sausage is in the etoufee and there is a collard green salad on top. Michelle wins 13-2. Hilariously Kristen realizes she meant to vote Yellow, as everyone is voting. The etoufee is homey and flavorful. The pierogi are good but just need sausage.
Italian sausage. Kevin: risotto with roasted Parmesan emulsion and fennel. Kaleena: potato gnocchi with Italian sausage and Calabrian chili ragu. Kaleena wins 13-2. Oof. The gnocchi are great and the flavor is right. Kevin put too much cheese. It's one of the better risottos they've had on the show, though.
I notice that Manny and Laura are the two people with chorizo. Just saying. Manny: chorizo and cheese tetela with roasted salsa and avocado crema. Tetelas are masa dough stuffed with usually beans and fried. Laura: chorizo kebab taco with yogurt sauce. Laura says she made her own chorizo. Amar wants to vote for both. In the end Manny wins 9-6. Kristen says the only difference was Laura's was maybe too spicy. But Tom picked Laura because she made her own chorizo.
Oh look it's a tie headed into the last pairing. Dan is having a crisis because he is friends with Amanda. Dan: potato pancake, charred cabbage, sauerkraut, mustard butter, and herbs. Amanda: rye and caraway spaetzle, caramelized onion with beer and mustard sauce, crispy sauerkraut. Amanda wins 12-3. Wow. Amanda had great layers of flavor, but Dan also did really well. So Yellow team wins. That means Dan, Savannah, and Kevin are up for elimination.
Judges' Table. They took out the first row of tables so the judges could stand there. Tom and Kristen tell them this is the best they've done all season. Kaleena balanced her sausage with spice and she's proving herself. Michelle made Polish sausage her own. Gail says it feels like she's made this a hundred times. Amanda put sausage in the spaetzle too so there's a lot of flavor. The winner is Michelle. She's very pleased.
Blue team did a good job, even though they lost. Tom says every little thing counts, and someone is going home for making a good dish. Kevin wanted to show off by making risotto, but there was too much cheese. Some of the rice was broken, and Tom points out that he had 45 minutes on the field. He had time to make the risotto to order, entirely on the field. Kevin says...you know what, I don't know what he says. I guess that he didn't think of that? Savannah also didn't have enough sausage. Maybe too much focus on the pierogi. She tries to claim she had a voice in her head saying exactly that, but then why didn't you listen? Dan just put sausage on top of his dish, and it was expected. He could have put sausage in the pancake.
Tom says all three people on the bottom made the same mistake: not using the sausage well. Gail says then it has to come down to the other flavors. Tom doesn't want to kick Savannah, because it was a great dish, just not sausage-forward. Kevin maybe didn't make good risotto. It was all cheese. Maybe a good mac and cheese dish. Dan wasn't creative enough.
Kevin is eliminated. Aww. And then...no one else? How are we doing Restaurant Wars with nine? Kevin is sad, because he came in second on Top Chef: France. But he gets to do LCK.
Next week: it's Restaurant Wars. There is a clear shot of everyone when this announcement is made, and there's still nine of them. They don't show good shots of anything after that, but we do see Michelle and Laura clearly. I don't know. Speculation from the internet! Three teams of three. That could work.
Last Chance Kitchen: this was Rasika's first time in the bottom, and then she was out. Kevin wanted to challenge himself. They both want more time. Tom is here to greet them. They've had strong moments, but both of them made mistakes. Rasika didn't get to go to the stadium, so here is a scoreboard. Rasika says she watches cricket, which is hilarious for some reason. No one understands cricket. Kevin says all he knows about baseball is that you arrive to the stadium sober but you do not leave sober. OK listen up because this shit is complicated: the contestants will have 45 minutes on the clock. They can make however many dishes they want, up to nine. Each dish will count as an inning. You do not have to wait to send up dishes, you can send them as soon as they're ready. Tom will score each dish from 0-4. When 45 minutes is up, high score wins. So if you want to turn in a bunch of little things, you can, and hope your total score is good. Or you can focus on a few things and aim for high scores for each.
Rasika wants to give Tom a traditional meal. She asks Kevin how many dishes he's going for, and when he says three she says she's going for a traditional five-course Indian meal. Kevin wants to focus on quality. Rasika is going to start with sweet. They both seem to be working on multiple dishes at the same time. Then Rasika says she's making eggplant to show Tom she can make eggplant. Sigh. No one has tried to redeem themselves and succeeded. Tom just laughs.
After 15 minutes no one has served anything yet. Tom is commenting on it. Rasika gets something done first: rice payasam. It's like a rice pudding, with saffron and cardamom. The rice is a little underdone. Kevin: roasted lamb with panko, garlic, and demi-glace. Tom goes over to the scoreboard and gives Rasika a one, and Kevin three.
They only have twenty minutes left. Rasika: berbere eggplant with corn and pepper salad. I think Tom says the texture is good but it's not seasoned enough. Kevin: scallop with butternut puree and herb salad. Also not seasoned. Rasika gets a two, and Kevin also a two. Kevin is still winning.
Kevin takes the leeks out of boiling water and burns his hands. Oof. Kevin: poireaux vinaigrette with chive and parsley salad. Poireaux is just French for leek. It looks like stuffed leeks. Tom says the stuffing is the same texture as the sauce. Kevin runs off to make salad. He only gets a one. It's 6-3 Kevin.
Rasika: bisi bele bhath: rice and lentils with roasted potato curry. She gets a two, which isn't enough to pull ahead, and they both only have time for one more dish. Rasika had planned five but she's not going to make it.
Kevin: charred butter lettuce with salmon, herbs, and yogurt sauce. He drops off the dish and he thinks he can make something else in three minutes. The lettuce isn't dressed. Kevin frantically puts some smoked salmon on a plate and toasts bread. Tom gives him one point, so it's 7-5 Kevin.
Last dishes. Kevin: smoked salmon with dill cream. Rasika: sea bass with green chutney, tomato and plum salad. Rasika's sauce is very salty, but Kevin's is bland. They both get ones, which means Kevin wins. Aww. She started the season so strong! She's proud of making her food. Kevin is excited.
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