Top Chef 5/8/24--"Restaurant Wars" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: the Quickfire was somehow both an advertisement for dish soap and a flambe challenge. Sure. Then the twist was the top three (Danny, Amanda, and Kevin) had to make a second dish with char. At least when Danny won he got $20,000. Then the Elimination Challenge involved sausage, sausage races, and the ballpark. It was a team challenge but there was no drama about teams or budgets. Head to head battles featuring various sausages. Michelle made etouffee with Polish sausage and won. I thought for sure they would get rid of two of the three people in the bottom, but then they only got rid of Kevin for making risotto that had too much cheese. So how are we doing Restaurant Wars with nine people? (click for more)

Last Chance Kitchen: there was a very tortured baseball challenge where Rasika and Kevin each could make up to nine dishes. Each dish gets points, and the person with the most points after 45 minutes wins. Instead of trying to make nine easier dishes and rack up one point each, both of them tried to put time into big dishes. Kevin just did better, and also at the last second he threw some smoked salmon and dill cream together. They could have been doing that this whole time! Anyway, Kevin won and Rasika is eliminated.

We're just starting out with everyone driving to the lake. I wonder if they're thrown off because there are nine of them left so clearly it's not Restaurant Wars, right? But Tom is out there too. No one is particularly happy about this. Tom asks if anyone can guess what they're doing. Fishing? Elimination Quickfire? No, although an Elimination Quickfire would solve your numbers problem. No, it's actually time for Restaurant Wars. Hot take: I like Restaurant Wars and I like that you always know when it is. So I'm a little disgruntled about this. Each team will need a three course menu, with at least two choices per course. One executive chef, one “floor manager” (just say Front of House), and “line cooks”. I mean they've always been line cooks, just no one labeled them. Back to having to do décor, ugh. Kristen specifically mentions the reservation book, so I'm assuming someone screws that up. She then reminds them that she actually went out on this challenge. Yeah, but that's because Josie was garbage and Kristen was too noble to throw her under the bus. Chefs will be allowed to pick their own teams. Interesting. Don't they do that most years? Draw knives and two people get to start, and they all pick each other? Also the solution to the extra person is that Michelle, as last week's winner, gets to pick which team she joins. They could have given her immunity and let her eat with the judges, which would have solved the number problem. Whatever.

After a little milling around, the teams shake out as Kaleena, Soo, Laura, and Manny; and Dan, Danny, Amanda, and Savannah. Kaleena thinks their team is solid and works well, but she said that about her last team when she was eliminated. Danny points out that he and Amanda have worked together for every team challenge this season. Michelle chooses to join Danny's team. One hour today to get the concept together, and then stupid décor shopping. $3000 at Whole Foods, and another $1500 at specialty shops, to serve 75 people. Tomorrow will be five hours of prep/wasting time setting up tables, and then service is four hours long. Have they ever told us how long service is? I don't think they have. Also there are VIPs, I guess not eating with the judges? But just there? Oh, no, they are eating with the judges. Stephanie will be here, and Kwame. Stephanie who won this show and owns several restaurants. Judges will be split and then switch restaurants partway through. Tom says work together, you will need each other. Winning team gets $40,000 so RIP Danny's team if they win, I guess. Still maybe a double elimination.

Kristen made several comments about being creative, so we'll see. Kaleena and Manny quickly come up with Mexican/Korean fusion, which I have seen everywhere but at least it's a defined concept. They decide the name will be Dos by Deul (the two words for “two”). Kaleena refuses to be FOH, and Laura volunteers. Kaleena WILL be executive chef, because she's fucking good at it. The only reason I am skeptical of this is because of how confident she was the last time. And that was a trash fire.

Danny wants to expedite, and Michelle is initially hesitant about being FOH but then agrees and interviews that she has serving experience, she's been a greeter, etc. I had to watch the clip so many times because it really seemed like Dan had to talk her into it, but then her confessional clip was about how comfortable she was doing FOH. She does say it's a risk, so maybe it was just about not wanting to leave her dishes to other people. This group is the group with the vague “global” “the water” themeing. Those are too broad. Somehow they seem to decide “seafood and vegetables” which is still too broad. Amanda is insisting they have a one word name as if that's going to keep the judges from telling them the menu isn't cohesive. They decide on “Channel”, because the water and it connects things. I'm still side-eyeing this group.

Dos by Deul I think are not making desserts. Kaleena specifically says she could do dessert but she'd rather do savory. They're throwing out ideas and doing things like mentioning a certain dish sounds good but doesn't have any Mexican influence so maybe use jicama. Soo basically says “tteokbokki mole” and I'm sold. Tteokbokki are rice cakes that usually are cooked in gochujang. Manny says they're all building and letting dishes come naturally, because forcing a dish into a menu is like a fart. “If you have to push it, it's probably shit.” Ha! He immediately laughs and says “don't put that in there”.

Channel (…I mean I guess) is doing three entrees, since they have an extra person. Dishes seem to either be vegan or seafood, but other than that I think they are whatever style. So it's clam chowder and dirty rice and beet tartare and gumbo. But gumbo is mostly soup, Amanda argues, so it's fine to have both that and dirty rice as entrees. Savannah is worried people are representing themselves instead of the restaurant. They are doing dessert, though, thankfully without seafood. And a cocktail. Somehow one dessert and the cocktail will have tea, and honestly “tea” is a decent theme, but no one can hear me yelling at the TV so we just move on.

Laura has taken over the design. They're picking out couches? Listen no one cares about décor. On the way to buy food, Channel's two cars call each other. Michelle is worried they aren't cohesive enough, and Dan thinks he is reassuring her by telling her they are a “modern American” restaurant that is pulling from each of the five chef's “individual experiences”. That's not cohesive. But then he dumps all this on Michelle and says it's her job to explain this to people as they come in. She could literally repeat what you just said and the judges still aren't going to buy it. They could do anything, but Michelle says the challenge isn't to do “anything”, it's to make a cohesive restaurant. Amanda believes that being inspired by the water is cohesive, but I'm pretty sure there have been several restaurants that just said “we're a seafood restaurant” and that didn't fly. Dan offers to do smoked trout instead of beets if that will help, which of course everyone loves and he can talk about how Wisconsin it is.

Of course when they get to the seafood market there is no trout, so they get walleye. Dos by Deul has wisely sent the two Mexican chefs to the Mexican market, and the two Asian chefs to the Asian market. Soo can't find the right rice cakes. There are two kinds: flat disks you are supposed to put in soup (what the store has), and cylinders (the store does not have these). So it sounds like he's going to buy disks and hope it works. When they all get to Whole Foods, Dan brags that they used all their specialty money at the seafood market, so they don't have to buy proteins here. Danny is buying all the carrots because somehow his clam chowder is going to be about carrots? I guess so. Manny is discovering there isn't enough seafood at Whole Foods to get what they want for 75 people. They don't have time to go to the fish market so they have to pivot to pork tenderloin.

They seem to have three hours tonight to start prepping. Lots of unloading and figuring out what's here. Channel has seafood in everything, except Amanda's vegan gumbo. Amanda is also doing a custard with Danny, and they put in a shot of her telling him she thinks the five hours tomorrow is plenty of time for it to set up. More foreshadowing. Dos by Deul doesn't have desserts, but they do have one team course. First course is cold, second is more like appetizers, third is beef or pork tenderloin. Michelle is rushing to get as much prep done today as she can, so she can do FOH tomorrow. Manny interviews that he thinks everyone should make their dishes a little salty, because in his experience he always wishes he had put more salt. The team gets into a tiny argument about this, ending with “we can put more salt tomorrow”.

It's tomorrow. Five hours today to get it together. Michelle is explaining her dish to Savannah, since Savannah is going to take care of plating. Well, not just plating, but searing rice cakes, frying catfish, and also plating. Michelle is freaking out slightly less because her dish has turned out OK. Laura is putting beef tartare in ring molds on plates, and then stacking them to sit in the fridge. She says she's done this before, and it clearly makes things easier but I wonder if the judges will know. There is another foreshadowing conversation about how the beef is seasoned already, but only a little because the sauce has more seasoning. So the beef is already salted, and packed in a ring mold and on a plate. Kaleena is going to take care of that.

The servers arrive, and now we have to watch “training”. I wonder if these are actual servers or if they are cater waiters. At least the servers are setting up tables. With one hour left Michelle has already changed. Laura is back in the kitchen. No, I take it back, now she's changed. Danny has come up with a system I don't think I've seen here before. He pre-printed cards with the menu and a space to write a count. So all the servers have to do is write the table number and how many of each thing. Huh. So it doesn't eliminate servers not remembering table numbers, but it does eliminate confusion about weird abbreviations and bad handwriting.

People start arriving, and Laura is greeting people, explaining the name, offering a cocktail or drink of some kind. Immediately Kaleena is asking to write “tartare” and not “beef”, since they are also serving beef tenderloin. OK so that's a thing Danny's system plans for. Kaleena knows this can sink their restaurant so she wants to fix it now.

Judges' time. Kristen, Tom, Kwame, and Andrew Fairchild (...a local chef I guess?) are at Channel. Their server (who is not Michelle) gives them the welcome drink, which is a sparkling tea. The problem is Tom and Kristen have what looks like white wine, and Kwame and Andrew have what looks like clear water. Gail, Stephanie, and two other guest judges are at Dos by Deul, and Laura interviews that all their guests are special, but the judges are more special. She goes back to the kitchen to tell them the table number the judges are at, and then takes the welcome drinks over herself.

First course is out quickly, it seems like. Laura: beef tartare, cilantro green goddess, gochujang, rice cracker. Kaleena: melon and Dungeness crab aguachile, pickled bamboo, furikake tostada. The tartare has a lot going on, but the more you eat, the better it gets. Kaleena's dish needs a tiny bit more acidity; the melon waters it down.

Channel is also communicating what table the judges are at. Michelle is panicking a little bit, and she's hanging out in the kitchen because she isn't sure how much she should be at their table. Of course this is the wrong move, because Tom is pissy about it. Well, he's pissy because she walked by apparently and didn't check in, which is worse than I thought. I thought she was just hiding in the kitchen, not pretending not to see them. She does go out with the first course. Dan: smoked walleye, labneh, potato cake, harissa. Savannah: chawanmushi with scallop, maitake, ikura. Ikura is salmon roe. Savannah's custard is great but the maitake mushrooms are chewy. Dan's dish is a sour cream and onion potato chip flavor but that's a good thing.

Channel's entrees are up next. Kristen asks Michelle if she was nervous about not finishing her dish, and she says yes but she trusts Savannah. Michelle: fried catfish with dirty rice cake. Danny: “New England style clam chowder” - grilled carrots with old bay, clams, and thyme. The carrots replace potatoes, apparently. Amanda: vegan gumbo z'herbes, greens, grilled mushrooms, and kombu. Kombu is seaweed. I have to say the whole time Michelle was describing this course, she was holding an empty wine glass. I'm not sure where that came from and why she didn't put it down or give it to a server. They don't know why there's a vegan gumbo in a seafood restaurant. It's a good dish, if not reading “gumbo”. Tom is annoyed Danny is calling his dish “clam chowder” because while it's good, it's not New England clam chowder. Michelle's dish doesn't need the rice, because the sauce is the best part.

Somehow Dos by Deul has lost the ticket for the judges' table. Did they never write one? I'm not sure, but there's no ticket, and Kaleena insists that Laura write one down so there is a physical copy. She says she will fire it right now, but write one down. I know in the past I didn't understand why this was such a big deal, like you know the judges are here, but apparently if your kitchen runs on tickets, you need a ticket for everything and it's a big problem if you don't have it. Soo says you just cook whatever Kaleena says. They're behind a little bit, and I can't figure out if it's because they're just behind, or the tickets are messed up, or what. I will say there are no shots of these judges complaining about how long it's been since the last course. Soo: rice cakes (Laura calls them “crackers”, get it together), salsa verde, Chinese sausage, and pepita. Manny: miso butter-poached shrimp, kimchi jicama, and bok choy. The salsa verde is great and craveable. The shrimp is cooked beautifully, but the miso butter drowns out the heat on the jicama. Back in the kitchen it sounds like whatever the team was tasting yesterday, that they argued over the salt, it's not as seasoned as they thought.

Desserts come out at Channel. Danny and Amanda: honey custard, jasmine tea and citrus gelee, buckwheat crumble. Something got poured over tableside, but it's not clear what. Dan: maple cremeux, blueberry, pistachio, and caramel. The custard is good, and so is Dan's cremeux. It's not that maple though, but Kwame practically licked the plate clean. Kristen says that Channel didn't have any majorly bad dishes, and Tom is like, no but it's not cohesive. See I told you. It's just a bunch of ideas. The judges abruptly get up and leave, and Michelle was back in the kitchen getting another table's plates so she didn't say goodbye. Now she's freaking out about that.

OK there is the shot of Dos by Deul and Gail asking a random server about their next course. It's confusing because of where they put the last scene. There was Laura and Kaleena talking about tickets, and then the second course went out, so that implies that the tickets were fixed then and the third course should be fine. But maybe that was out of order and the third course was delayed because the ticket was lost. But on the third hand, how do you lose a ticket that you had through two courses already? Then the third course comes out with little drama. Laura just says they're hustling in the kitchen. Manny: beef tenderloin with mole negro, shimeji mushrooms, and black garlic. Team dish: pork tenderloin a la talla, charred pineapple, black bean and onion puree. The mole is fantastic, but the pork needs salt. Stephanie thinks maybe because it was the team effort, there wasn't a single person giving it all their attention and the dish suffered. Stephanie also thinks maybe the third course doesn't go with the first two. It's almost a different restaurant.

The judges swap restaurants, and Michelle is determined not to fuck this round up. Danny interviews that there are a dozen tickets on the board already, and he doesn't want to stop service to focus on the judges. So he's currently asking the kitchen to push out another table before the judges. You can't have them wait too long but I do remember a season where the executive chef shut down the entire kitchen to serve the judges, meaning nothing went out while the judges were there. They ended up not serving everyone in the time they had and they lost for sure. Dos by Deul is starting to fuck up dishes and servers are maybe not paying attention. Danny's decision to not bump the judges to the top of the list has unfortunately caused them to sit around for 30 minutes. Stephanie jokes that at least she's hungry again. Dos by Deul has also made their judges' table wait for 25 minutes, but Kaleena is blaming this on the servers fucking up. It's the classic “servers bring dishes back, stand around, confuse table numbers” montage. Tom is especially cranky because it's two cold dishes.

When Channel finally gets going, Gail and Stephanie mutter that Michelle never came to check on them during this very long wait. They also like Dan's dish, and dislike Savannah's mushrooms. Dos by Deul serves the judges finally, and Tom and Kristen refuse to eat Laura's rice crackers, because they've sat too long and are soggy. Kaleena's tostadas are greasy also, but minus the crunchy chips both dishes are good. Laura tries to fire the judges' next course, but Kaleena tells her to double check table numbers, because they need to clear all this before they get to the judges. I'd like to point out here that Kaleena has not raised her voice but she is firm and insisting on getting her way, which she should be because she's in charge. So I don't want to see a bunch of people on the internet calling her a bitch.

Channel has gotten going. Michelle's rice is maybe not perfect but the rest of it is. Amanda's tomato is fighting the kombu. The carrots are a vibe, but these judges also do not think this is a cohesive restaurant. Kristen says “it's been 45 minutes” and it's not clear if that is from when they got there (not great but not bad), or from the last course (disaster). The cameraman gets a shot of Kwame yawning. The rice cakes have been sitting too long. Manny's individual components are good but they don't go together.

As the judges get desserts at Channel, you can see it's dark outside and the restaurant is half empty as everyone has finished. The tea custard is great, but Dan's dish is like, a bowl of garnishes. Everyone is trying to shine and not collaborating. The third course goes out at Dos by Deul, and this restaurant seems to have more people in it. But that might be because they're more behind. Manny's beef is cooked perfectly, but the judges are noticing that many of this restaurant's dishes are either Korean or Mexican, with one ingredient from the opposite cuisine. So they don't think it's really a fusion. The pork is underseasoned and the pineapple is apparently not charred. Huh. They actually had a theme but now Kristen is confused.

The two groups of judges meet up to chat. Channel's dishes were not as advertised, but the dishes themselves were pretty good. Stephanie calls Dos by Deul's menu cohesive, and then says they went to Channel which was not cohesive at all. Tom doesn't think Dos by Deul was cohesive. Kwame says it's what he thinks of when he doesn't like the word “fusion”. Gail says at least they worked together as a team, while Channel didn't. But that was Channel's whole point! But did they succeed? Tom has no answer. He's been very grumpy today, and unfortunately when he doesn't agree with people he seems to get his way.

Judges' Table. Channel says their concept is “an American seafood restaurant”. Tom says the judges had a hard time figuring out what they were going for. It's a high-level conversation because it wasn't like there were dishes that were terrible. Tom tells Dos by Deul that they're going to hear the same things. Michelle insists they played to their strengths, and she had the most FOH experience. Tom asks when she thinks it's appropriate to touch tables, which is the most loaded question. She admits she didn't say goodbye to them, but if they tell her she wasn't around enough the rest of the visit, they don't show it.

Kaleena says their entire group talked about all the dishes and worked together. Kristen asks Laura if she knew (or did anyone tell her) that they waited 30 minutes for the first course? She says yes, and then Kaleena tells them there was an issue with servers and table numbers but they got it straightened out. Gail points out this issue happened to both restaurants on the second turn. Danny explains how he didn't want to stop service to do the judges' table.

The winning team is Channel. Really? You guys let Tom talk you out of this didn't you. Just because they said “our theme is we don't have a theme” and I guess Tom was offended about not having enough fusion? Whatever. Dan's walleye was delicious, and Tom says if you're going to be a regional seafood restaurant that's the kind of dish you need. But they didn't say “regional”, TOM, it was only regional because everyone just stuck to their own region. Danny's carrots were perfect, and they don't show Tom saying it's not clam chowder. Savannah's mushrooms were bad but the rest was great. Michelle should have just served the catfish and sauce. Amanda's dish was one-note and the tomatoes drowned everything out, but the idea of vegan gumbo with seaweed fits a seafood restaurant. The honey custard was a great ending. The winner is Dan. They decided his dish represented the concept, except for the part where the concept was just “seafood”. How are carrots “regional seafood”? You can't decide you like this team and then manufacture a concept for them.

Laura's rice crackers were bad. Gail says this was where different tables have different experiences. Kaleena's dish was boring. Manny's beef was amazing, but the shrimp was bland. This is much harsher criticism than they said at the actual restaurant. Gail loved Soo's dish, but Tom bitches that it was two store-bought ingredients and he didn't put enough effort in. Where was this complaint half an hour ago? Also no one makes rice cakes from scratch, TOM, so learn about some other cuisines for once. Soo and Kaleena talk about how Soo helped everyone else with everything. The pork tenderloin was “not seasoned at all” according to Kwame. So the problem is the worst dish was the team dish. Tom tries to blame Kaleena for it, since she was expediting, and she says she liked it.

So the interesting thing here is that Tom and Kwame hate Soo's dish, while Gail and Stephanie really liked it. When they say so, they cut in a shot of Tom looking pissed off. It's the face my dad makes when he thinks you're stupid for having your opinion, but he knows he can't tell you so because he can't really prove you're wrong, so now he's going to sulk about it. Laura was fine but she abandoned them when they had the long wait. Manny didn't really put anything Asian into his dishes. Kwame says his beef dish was good, but when Gail says it didn't have anything Asian in it, Kwame makes the exact same face as Tom just did. Listen, assholes, women are allowed to disagree with you. The only people rolling their eyes because someone doesn't agree are the two men at this table. Tom reminds them they can get rid of two people. Kaleena didn't take charge, I guess not referring to getting them out of the weeds, but letting the team dish go out when it was not good.

Kaleena is eliminated again. She does not say anything to the judges but just leaves. I guess Manny is fine? Stop mentioning how you could get rid of two people if you aren't going to do it. Kaleena is upset because the first time she was eliminated, she knew she messed up. But she thought she did really well this time.

Next week: cranberries, supposedly the Quickfire performance will also factor into eliminations, indigenous foods. Interesting.

Last Chance Kitchen: Kaleena is more at peace with what she's accomplished, compared to when she was first eliminated. She says she does want to win, but maybe that's not what's best for her right now. So is she going to quit too? She arrives at the kitchen and her hair isn't in a ponytail. This is a big tell I think. Tom says some stuff about how she did so well last time, so are you ready to go again? No. “Unfortunately, I'm not going to be competing today.” Tom does seem surprised (I don't think he's that good of an actor). So why did the first guy eliminated just bail and not do this drama? Anyway, Kaleena needs to put her mental health first, and she can't give her best right now. Tom pretends to respect that but you know he doesn't. Let's agree on that.

Tom starts panicking, and Kevin then is panicking, because I guess he thought Tom knew she was going to quit? So Tom asks Rasika if she feels like cooking. OK I don't know what the answer is here but I also am not convinced this is it. First of all, it would not be a huge mistake to show Tom talking to producers to figure out what to do. Aren't there other producers? Are we pretending Tom has 100% control over this show? Also the first guy quit, or was kicked, or whatever, and they found Soo from somewhere. They could just skip another week and wait for someone else. Or hell, are they ever going to have two eliminations? You'll get the numbers back to where they should be. I don't have anything against Rasika, but this “solution” caused me to make a face. Tom promises to Kevin that he will “make it fair” whatever that means.

So the challenge was supposed to be about Restaurant Wars. I guess we're still doing the same challenge. Tom asks Kevin if he has a restaurant concept he'd like to do. French bistro of course. Rasika says Southern Indian of course. You have 45 minutes to make one savory and one sweet dish from your restaurant concept. I'm not sure how this addresses Kaleena's mistake of I guess letting a bad dish go out, but whatever. To make this fair, since Kevin already beat Rasika, she will have to win two in a row. So if Rasika wins, she has to win next week also before she escapes the peanut gallery. If Kevin wins he's good. Tom said Rasika would have to win “another challenge” but it's not clear if that would be immediately, today, or if she'd just have to win again next week. Think about it like you are serving potential investors and you want them to love your concept.

Rasika is of course going to do her best. Kevin knows she's bringing her A-game, but he won Restaurant Wars on his season, and he already beat her once. She's making seafood curry and cardamom custard.

Tom Time! Kevin has beef and a fruit dessert. They actually subtitle him which is interesting. They haven't really done that. Rasika is making some kind of rice flour dough. That's it for Tom.

Kevin tastes something and says it tastes like France. His dish looks easy but it's got complicated parts to it. Rasika has some dough in an extruder, and then you put it right onto banana leaves, so it makes a little nest. She's searing her seafood separately instead of cooking them in the curry, in an effort to elevate them. Kevin says his dessert is very European.

Rasika: Mangalore fish curry with string hopper. The string hopper is the rice flour thing. It looks like steamed vermicelli. Tom specifically asks her about not cooking the fish in the curry, and she says that she would cook a la minute so people could enjoy the texture of the fish. Kevin: beef tenderloin with pomme puree, duxelle, vin jaune sauce, and hazelnuts. Rasika: yuzu custard with berere spiced fruits and cashews. Kevin: roasted berries with basil oil, fleur de sel crumble, chantilly mascarpone, and vanilla tuile.

These dishes are perfectly matched to these concepts. The curry is great, and has flavor for how little time she had. Also Tom admits he likes the string hopper. Kevin also developed great flavors. The desserts were also great. No one made a big mistake. Kevin wins! It was cooking the fish separately instead of in the curry. She looks really devastated. Tom hopes she gets a restaurant because this would be great. She's proud of herself. Kevin is finally celebrating. Honestly Kevin would have had to shit the bed for Tom to go back on a decision he made.