Previously on “Top Chef”: Rhoda returned from LCK, and she got stuck with making dessert for a dinner party. Everyone had to make appetizers with mayonnaise, which was fine, it was whatever. Anthony won some money. Then each contestant had to sign up for a course of the dinner party, so of course they left Rhoda with dessert. Also there was not very much money, for added drama. Laurence won the Elimination challenge with his soup. Rhoda spent four hours making...meringue and whipped crème fraiche, and the meringue didn't turn out. Oscar had bland meat and then because of the budget he put rice in his dish, so there were “two” “grain” dishes. Oscar was eliminated, and the internet feels Rhoda should have gone home but was saved because you can't get rid of the LCK winner immediately or why have LCK at all? That's fair but I think she had a vaguely edible dish while all of Oscar's dish was bland. (click for more)
So Top Chef has officially been renewed, which I was a little surprised by. Between the shitty timeslot and the overabundance of challenges with no money or time, it seemed like they might be trying to get rid of it. But I guess not.
Back in the Stew Room after the elimination, Rhoda talks about how she could have done so many other things, and it sucks to know she screwed up. They have to keep pushing each other. She wants to win because her parents apparently are still giving her shit for being single and childless. Oof. Sherry is kind of upset she's been in the middle a lot and can't seem to rise to the top. You just have to be true to yourself. I guess so.
In the morning everyone finds a note that says to go to Legendary Green Pond Landing. “Chop Chop!” Duyen says maybe they'll get machetes and she seems pretty excited about this. This Landing is basically a big paved area and a pier. It's some recreation site, which is whatever, but there is fishing. Also it's time for the mise en place race! Which is Tom's favorite and I also like it. There will be two teams, and you have to “capture the flag”. Winning team will cook (with the prepped ingredients, that's how it usually works) and then you can win $10,000. Laurence doesn't have to prep shit, because he won the Elimination challenge. He gets to go straight to the cooking part. Nice.
Teams are Duyen, Rhoda, and Sieger; and Jonathan, Anthony, and Sherry. Sieger says he doesn't have prep cooks at his restaurant so he still does all this stuff. Jonathan says in confessional that Sherry runs on turbo only so he's pleased to be on her team. For each round, they have to pick someone to compete. They'll do this by round (instead of having a list and once one thing is done, you can move on to the next) and first team to three wins gets to cook. You can send the same person in to compete in multiple rounds. Or you can swap out as you like.
The first task will be to seed and hull one pint of scuppernong grapes. These grapes are enormous. Apparently they're the state fruit of North Carolina. Jonathan and Sieger decide to take this round. Jonathan starts peeling with a paring knife, and Sieger decides to blanch them in the fryer and then shock them. Kind of like how you peel tomatoes. Tom says something about how that's a good idea, and Sieger is like thanks Tom! So Jonathan goes to copy him. The non-competing team members are giving updates (Sherry and Anthony) or trash-talking (Duyen). Duyen is asking if Jonathan wants to phone a friend, like she can call Brandon if he wants. Damn. Dwayne's back. Eventually Jonathan asks for a check just before Sieger. It did look pretty close, and they have a shot of Sieger's pint container that is basically full, but Jonathan takes this round
Peel and devein 12 shrimp. Duyen is very confident and Sherry less so. I think if you can't keep the tail on, or maybe if you don't keep the shrimp in one piece, you lose. Duyen eventually does it. Crack one ounce of pecans. Rhoda doesn't know what's bad about shelling pecans because she's never done it. Jonathan is just leaning on the table and cracking the nuts in a towel using his body weight. Somehow what happens here is that Jonathan has enough done, Laurence even tells him to call it. But Sieger calls Tom first.
Sieger's team is winning two to one. Next round is to shuck five ears of corn, and take the kernels off the cob. Rhoda vs. Anthony. Rhoda calls, but she's missing a bunch of stuff one one cob so Anthony tries to beat her. He screws this up too. Eventually Rhoda is declared done, so Rhoda, Sieger, and Duyen can cook. Ingredients are scuppernong grapes, shrimp, pecans, and corn. I wonder what the fifth thing was that they didn't get to?
Only 20 minutes to cook. It's hot, and there isn't a lot of time, so Rhoda is aiming for something refreshing. Jonathan is yelling a lot, but he's not making the best peanut gallery. Sieger is thinking ajo blanco, which is a garlicky soup that is usually cold, but make it hot instead? This cooking section is not interesting to me at all. Maybe I'm too tired to care.
Rhoda: warm corn, pecan, and shrimp salad, with scuppernong and tamarind vinaigrette. Laurence: corn, pecan, and shrimp chow mein with scuppernong pickles. Duyen: butter poached shrimp with pecan romesco and charred corn. Sieger: ajo blanco with shrimp, corn, scuppernongs, and toasted pecans.
Sieger had good flavors but too much garlic, which was not one of the ingredients. Laurence's dish was too sweet. Tom says it was sweeter than Rhoda's dessert yesterday, because Tom's feeling rude today I guess. Duyen had a cohesive dish that felt like all of the ingredients were there on purpose. They loved that Rhoda made a vinaigrette? Sure. Rhoda wins, which I guess we could have guessed because at some point she had said she hadn't won any money yet.
The Elimination Challenge is about fishing. Everyone is going out in their own boat (with a professional angler) to go fishing for 60 minutes. I had assumed it would be “cook whatever you catch” but Kristen says this is a fishing derby, and they are giving out awards which will be advantages? Smallest fish, biggest fish, and most caught. Officially the challenge is “create your best fish dish featuring fish from this lake.” You can use whatever you catch, or “any type of fish that you catch”, because the anglers have some already caught. Once that's done, you will get an additional $100 for other ingredients, and then 90 minutes to prep tomorrow. They should have done this in the morning, so they could cook them tonight.
Some people have never fished. Or at least done any fishing where you have to cast constantly. Laurence takes a minute. Duyen is the first person to catch anything. She says she's very competitive, and there's a montage of things she's won. Somehow this is unsurprising. Tom, Gail, and Kristen are on their own boat with signs. Tom is very lazily fishing. Kristen cheers “Bravo! That's also our network”. Heh. I mean fishing is not exciting.
They made trophies for this! Amazing. Tom tells them they're not allowed to put weights in the fish. If you guys have never seen it, there's a video from a fishing competition where I guess someone was suspicious, and the judges cut open the fish and find lead weights inside, and they yell “We got weights in fish!” and immediately everyone else runs up and starts cussing them out. The video is amazing, it's called the Lake Erie Walleye Trail cheating scandal. Some people did have undersized fish that they had to set free. I think the most fish was four? Laurence didn't catch anything. Duyen caught the smallest fish, so she gets an extra $5. Also she caught the most fish, I guess because we're counting the fish you caught and released? That advantage is $50. Wow. The biggest fish goes to Jonathan. Everyone is taking cheesy pictures with Tom like it's a real tournament. The trophy for biggest fish is nearly as tall as Rhoda. Jonathan's prize is an extra 3o minutes to cook. Looks like Rhoda and Laurence didn't catch anything, so they get three spotted bass each.
Shopping at Whole Foods, exciting. Jonathan says he's going to tells this story forever and every year the fish is going to get bigger. There is some meal planning in the cars, where Jonathan's trophy is taking up a seat in the car and is belted in. He says he's never professionally fished before, and Sherry is like, you still haven't, you're not a professional just because someone gave you a trophy. Heh. Anthony tells Rhoda that striped bass tastes just like rockfish. I have no idea but I thought that was helpful. Sherry is going to make a green curry. Duyen has a soup in mind. Lots of people going Asian. Laurence is making steamed fish, which is a dish he used to make before he was a chef. He says he made it to impress his now wife. Duyen is using her extra money to buy things like pre-cut pineapple and be a bougie bitch. She also buys a bunch of stuff for people, which was a nice gesture.
In the morning Anthony calls his younger sister and greets her with “What's up butthead”. He says she's his world. You still gotta call your siblings butthead, and I appreciate the commitment to do so on camera.
Everyone goes to the restaurant, and they get a shot of them crossing the street like an Abbey Road thing. The first thing everyone does is take out all the pin bones. This seems to take a while; later on everyone says they all spent 30 minutes doing this. And they only have 90 minutes total. Duyen's soup has a lot of flavors going on. Sieger is making lentils. Laurence makes ginger scallion oil and yells about how he hates peeling ginger. Jonathan is making fried fish tacos, and Anthony tells him he's probably the only one frying his fish. So now Jonathan is in his head about whether he's doing enough. He also thinks he's in the limelight now that his brother's gone.
Rhoda has clams and mussels to put in a meuniere sauce, which is brown butter, lemon, and parsley, and now I know what was in all the batches of salmon meuniere I made in Breath of the Wild for that stupid bird. She talks a little bit about culinary school but the point of this exchange, I think, is the picture of Rhoda breaking down a tuna that is literally the same size she is. She's going for classic French today which is new. New to the judges, not new to her. Sherry says yesterday they made her kill her “emotional support fish” which she named John. Heh. Anthony has egusi seeds, which are a West African ingredient that are earthy. Interesting. Jonathan is making his own tortillas, and Laurence interviews that if you're making something simple it better be perfect.
The judges arrive, along with a local chef and Danielle Brooks. Duyen realizes her fish pieces don't have crispy skin, so to be safe she's removing it. It doesn't come off smoothly, which is maybe going to be a problem. But she doesn't think it's undercooked. Rhoda helps her plate. Duyen: canh chua with pineapple, tomatoes, and bok choy. She describes it as hot and sour soup. As she's talking, she's watching Tom futz with her fish and realizes it is actually undercooked. Once she leaves the table, Kristen whispers this to everyone and they all agree. But the broth is good and the dish looks pretty.
Sieger is cooking all his fish in the salamander, which works like the broiler in your oven, and he says you can't overcook it in there. Sure. Rhoda: seared spotted bass, fennel puree, artichoke barigoule, with mussel and clam sauce meuniere. Tom drops a piece of fish off his fork as he's eating and Rhoda jokes that she didn't see anything. The mussels come through and the fish is cooked perfectly. A classic simple dish.
Laurence seals up a hotel pan with foil so he can steam the fish. Sieger gets his dish done in time. Sieger: baked spotted bass with braised lentils, pepper sofrito, dates, and cardamom vinaigrette. The lentils are great, but they don't quite go with the fish. Tom wants more pepper. Sieger is convinced they think it's too sweet because they think that about all his food.
Sherry interviews that Laurence is her biggest competition because he always has a vision for how his food should be. Laurence: Cantonese steamed fish with ginger, scallions, fried leeks, rice, and bok choy. I like that he gave them a separate bowl of rice and bok choy instead of putting the rice in the sauce. When he leaves, Kristen teases Danielle that she's still eating. She says it's bussin. If you are old like me that means it's very good. Technique is perfect, and Gail says the skin isn't crispy but it does melt as you eat it. Danielle does a little dance in her chair.
Jonathan is using some of his extra time to test his fish and make sure it will fry well. Anthony: spotted bass with poblano egusi sauce and yassa. I think yassa is braised meat, but it might be the vegetables and rice under the fish. Everything on the plate goes together, and the egusi is bitter but it's very balanced. We also confirm Tom is not grumpy.
Jonathan says he knows how long he can leave his fish in the fryer so it's perfect. Sherry wants to finish her fish in the curry, so it's not dry, but also she wants to keep the skin crispy. Sherry: spotted bass with green curry and papaya salad. The sauce is heavy handed but the fish is moist with crispy skin so it's good.
Kristen mentions they have one dish left and she's surprised no one has fried the fish yet. Jonathan: beer battered fish taco with avocado mousse, cabbage slaw, and chipotle remoulade. When the dish comes out, Kristen seems excited but Gail asks “A taco?” in what sounds like a very disappointed tone. Jonathan does get to tell them he made his own tortillas. Everyone really likes it. Gail says it takes some confidence to make tacos knowing what everyone else did.
Judges' Table. Tom says everyone did a great job today. Rhoda, Anthony, Jonathan, and Laurence seem to be the top. Rhoda wanted to go super classic because the fish was so fresh. Cooked perfectly and everything paired really well. Anthony balanced the bitterness in his dish. Let's just assume everyone in the top is going to get praise for the fish being cooked perfectly, because that seems to be the theme. Jonathan says he never thought he'd make a taco on Top Chef. All of the other ingredients matched the batter and cut the richness. Laurence had a ton of flavor, and Danielle says she sees how he got his wife. Heh. The winner is Laurence. He interviews that he's locking into the food he wants to make. He's won four times, and we're on the tenth episode. A really high percentage.
Sieger and Duyen go up, so I guess Sherry is just in the middle. Sieger says he thought this was a classic combination, and he wanted sweetness to match the sweetness of the fish. Tom is like “oh. OK.” so I'm not sure what issue he has. Like it's clear he isn't 100% satisfied with the answer but I don't know why. The fish didn't have enough flavor, and the whole dish needed a sauce or something to tie the fish to the lentils. Gail asks Sieger if he thought about something that would connect the fish and the lentils, and he says “yeah when I put the fish on top of the lentils, I thought the spoon would do that, so.” Ooooooo. Gail is like, riiight, and Tom is making the exact “oh shit” face I am making. Duyen says there are a lot of freshwater fish dishes in Vietnamese cuisine. The broth was delicious and it was all balanced, but the fish was not cooked enough. Duyen talks about taking the skin off the fish, and when it pulled a little bit, that's apparently the big sign it's undercooked. She should have known. Tom calls her out on thinking a hot broth would finish cooking her fish (which is exactly what she said would happen so she wasn't worried). I mean he's not a jerk about it but he does say “you know a lot of chefs think a hot broth is going to cook their fish but it won't.” While the broth is good it's a fish challenge.
A successful challenge but two dishes fell short. Sieger could have roasted his fish, or cooked it differently, and it might have stood up to the lentils. It was boring but cooked properly. They loved Duyen's broth but her fish was way under. She didn't take all the skin off her fish, because she couldn't do it, because the fish wasn't cooked enough.
Tom says these were good dishes, but one fell short. Duyen is eliminated. No I love Duyen! That tracks if we are saying the fish is the most important. But I'm sad. She's confident and she made some great dishes. But she says she's going to go home and have a stiff martini and go back to being a boss-ass bitch. Heh.
Next week: for no reason Keith from the Try Guys is here. But Rachel and not Zach? That's fine, I love Rachel. Is Keith from South Carolina? Whatever, Kristen says it's their last challenge in Greenville? I think maybe French food, Sherry is pissed at Tom getting in her head. I have no idea what's happening.
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