Top Chef: Texas Recap (Part Two)
By David Mumpower
November 8, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tom Colicchio shares our concerns. He walks up to the flush-cheeked New Yorker and states, “So, he hacked the Hell out of that piece of meat.” This is why we love Tom. He is never afraid to state the obvious, no matter how much it hurts. Tom inquires as to why Grayson allowed a complete stranger to destroy her protein. She acknowledges that someone else’s offer to handle the basic butchering would liberate her to handle further preparations. In other words, she believed that she had gained an assistant for the early portion of her first meal. Tom simply states, “Bad assumption.” Tom and Grayson both understand that she does not possess enough pork tenderloin to feature it in the meal. Grayson is already punting her initial plans and going to Plan B, a tactic that involves stuffing thin cuts of meat with mushroom to “bulk it up a bit”. If we were handling bets in Vegas, we would not put any money on Grayson surviving the first day of the competition.
Over the next several minutes, we learn a bit more about the participants of Group A. Sarah Grueneberg is a Chicago chef who worked for Top Chef Masters competitor (and one of our favorites) Tony Mantuano; she is impressively composed. Simon Pantet of Seattle strikes us as an outsider artist disguised as a cook. In his own words, he is self-taught and feeling a bit in over his head. Heather Terhune doesn’t talk about herself much, because her dish tastes like “a salt lick” and she is too focused on fixing that. Chris and Richie, who should evolve into the crime-fighting tandem of Nerdo and Bad Hawk, continue to enjoy their buddy cop routine, which seems like foreshadowing for the season. We expect them to move on.
Colin Patterson of Seattle is still nervous. Already faced with the difficulty of a vegetarian creating a meat dish, he has appeared skittish in all of his camera shots. As the clock runs down, he kicks into an entirely different level of panic. This proves fatal as he recklessly pours the contents of a pot all over the judging plates. He knows he is screwed and the judges don’t pull any punches. They have a lot of players to eliminate and there isn’t any point in wasting time on the dishes that aren’t on the bubble. At the 20 minute mark, we have our second elimination and the judges still haven’t taken a bite yet.
After Colin is thrown off the stage, Padma explains the rules. Emeril Lagasse, Tom Colicchio and her will taste each dish then speak to its quality. If two of them agree that the dish is worthy, the chef in question will earn their Top Chef coat. If two of the judges determine the dish is lacking, said player is eliminate. Everyone else will fall into the middle category, a later cook-off for the remaining spots. Effectively, everyone wants to get a Top Chef coat immediately but at a minimum, what they must avoid is summary dismissal.
Chris presents a caramel apple that Tom describes as a classic combination re-imagined well. Emeril goes one better and says that the combination of flavors is excellent. Chris becomes the first chef to receive a Top Chef coat. Sarah presents pig skin ravioli, which sounds like the embodiment of disgusting tailgate food. It looks quite tasty, though. Tom is deeply complimentary, indicating that hers was the most difficult ingredient yet she pulled it off well. Emeril quickly agrees and Sarah becomes the person of Chicago to earn a Top Chef coat. The pressure is on, Mohawk Boy!
Very little time is spent showing final preparations for the next duo of Group A. Grayson frets over her earlier mistake while Molly, the chef from Royal Caribbean, shows additional insecurities about her employers. Molly’s dish is a smoked sweet potato soup that fails to wow. Then again, it also avoids disaster. Tom and Emeril agree that the dish is okay with solid flavor, but the main ingredient of the dish, the pork cheek, is not highlighted properly. Molly becomes the first contestant placed in the Try Again Later category, the cooking Purgatory of Top Chef. Grayson is hoping to avert disaster. All of the judges know her situation and they seem to have made the determination that no matter what happens with her dish, she should get another opportunity. Tom and Emeril agree that her dish is not good enough to give her a coat, so she joins Molly in Purgatory.
There are four chefs in the final tasting from Group A. Nyesha, who has been given little camera time thus far, is either not very engaging or not someone they worry about showing this early in the competition. Our guess is the latter as she is imbued with self-confidence. Tom asks the first question and he clearly believes she has used far too many components. Emeril interrupts and states that Nyesha has created a perfect Tex-Mex dish and Padma chimes in that she believes it is beautiful. Before Tom can register his nay vote, Nyesha becomes a permanent Top Chef contestant. Heather competes next; her baby back ribs dish is the one that makes our mouth water. Tom confirms this by stating that her flavors are “soulful” and “satisfying”. Emeril’s smile is informative as before he even speaks, we know that Heather will be one of the 16 finalists. There are a dozen spots up for grabs now.
The mood changes when untrained Simon is judged for his ham dish. Emeril is harshly negative for the first time, describing the dish as overcooked and dry. Tom confirms that there was too much going on and that “I just can’t see you doing this”. We applaud the casting department for finding an interesting longshot candidates but like most longshots, Simon won’t win. This leaves Richie, the other man of Chicago. Tom is inquisitive about Mohawk Boy’s nervous smile. Richie informs him that he is worried that his salty palate may have been his undoing here. Tom counters that while the crispy pig ears on the verge of being too salty, he gives the dish a thumbs up. Meanwhile, Padma nods her assent about the saltiness of the dish, but she defers to Emeril first. Richie needs his approval because it seems unlikely that Padma will give him the requisite swing vote. To his relief, Lagasse describes the dish as having tremendous depth, a compliment the young man will savor for the rest of his life. That is five chefs who have moved forward in the competition, three of whom are from Chicago with two of those coming from the same restaurant. That’s impressive. Theo Epstein is already bringing good luck to the town.
Group B is introduced at this point. Gail Simmons replaces Emeril in this round of judging. Again, we will delve into the specific details of the chefs until such a point as the 16 finalists are determined. What we know for sure right now is that out of the first ten participants, five have earned their coats, three have been eliminated, and two are in Purgatory. Group B’s competition requires the nine contestants to agree upon a food they will each use as the basis for their dish. A brief argument ensues before all of them agree upon rabbit, much to the chagrin of a seafood chef.
The first quarter of chefs in Group B is a great mix. Two of them, Keith Rhodes and Edward Lee, are men who were nominated for James Beard Southeast awards in 2011. So, they will be competing more than once this year. One of them, Nina Vicente, is a Seattle sous chef who seems to have a chip on her shoulder about her perception among her peers. Whitney Otawka is an Atlanta chef who was angling for rabbit, so she has no excuses if she doesn’t do well here.
Edward and Nina have nightmare rounds. The former gentleman has trouble operating the vacuum machine and winds up undercooking his protein because of it. Nina throws far under this mistake as she loses sight of time, causing her to forget to include her rabbit. Nina becomes the third chef to be eliminated without the judges taking a bite of her food. Frankly, she seemed way too excitable to perform well over a long term in this competition anyway.
Whitney’s dish is a rabbit sugo, which forces one of our writers to google what a sugo is…and even that information isn’t particularly helpful. Let’s just call it sauce as a meal and if one of the producers of the show wants to correct us on it, we cede the point on our ignorance of the subject matter. Whatever sugo is, Whitney’s is delicious and there is immediate consensus that she has earned a spot in the sweet 16.
Keith, a former prison inmate and quite possibly the largest man in the history of Top Chef (sorry, CJ), is also suffering a bout of nerves, stating that he hopes he doesn’t pass out. If he does, we guarantee you that nobody there is strong enough to catch him before he hits the ground. Tom, Gail and Padma quickly inform the giant that he had little cause for concern as he is given an “extra, extra large” coat for his troubles. The news is not as good for Edward, who knew that his dish wasn’t quite right. Tom offers him the opportunity to cook again and, much to Padma’s frustration, Gail concurs. Thus far, Padma seems to be the most critical judge. Edward joins the women from Group A’s second heat in Purgatory. By the time this is over, the three of them plus another two or three chefs may be competing for only one remaining spot.
There are five competitors in the final heat of Group B. Janine Falvo is the least fortunate of them. As time runs out on the clock, she realizes that her sauce is on the table behind her. She cannot reach it before time runs out. The judges save her for fourth, which is a bit cruel. Gail strongly supports the dish and wants to give Janine a jacket. Unfortunately, Padma disagrees and Tom feels she could create a better dish. So, Janine because the fourth player in Purgatory.
Out of the remaining four participants, Dakota goes first. She has received little air time thus far, so we were using the same logic with her as with Nyesha. The lavish praise for her dish, however, paints her as one of the early favorites. And then she gets immediately one-upped. Chris, a chef who describes himself in the style of the Voltaggios and Richard Blais, earns the strongest compliments of any contestant thus far. We had considered him to be an egomaniacal blowhard up until now, but he suddenly appears to be the frontrunner. Ty-Lor (yes, that’s how he spells it and there is an umlaut on the ‘o’) is also a unanimous choice for a coat. This group has had three no-brainer selections thus far; rabbit was certainly the right call.
The final person judged tonight is Chuy. He tries to joke about the situation, stating that the judges have “either saved the best for last or the absolute worst for last”. Padma curtly replies, “Or neither.” Padma has been feral in this episode whereas Emeril Lagasse was quite approachable. This surprises us. Chuy is eventually informed that he earns the 11th coat thus far.
Working through the numbers for the season premiere, 19 contestants have participated thus far. 11 of them earned their coats, leaving five up for grabs. Out of the 11 who have advanced in the competition, four of them have working relationships. In addition to buddy chefs Chris and Richie, we discover in the closing moments that Ty-Lor worked as executive sous chef for Heather for a couple of years. These pre-existing interpersonal relationships should make for fascinating television down the line.
Out of the eight chefs who did not earn jackets tonight, four will have the opportunity to cook again for the judges while four are eliminated from the competition, three of them before their dishes were even sampled. Out of the participants removed from the competition, Simon was the only one whose food wasn’t up to snuff. The rest all made mistakes prior to Judges Table. Out of the players in Purgatory, three of the four players (Grayson, Edward and Janine) had preparation problems; only Molly made the dish she wanted yet was found wanting by the judges. That is probably not a good sign for her candidacy.
With ten chefs remaining in Group C and four more in Purgatory, there are 14 players competing for five spots. Our expectation for next week’s episode is that the Group C players are judged more harshly with only three of them being ceded jackets. That would leave a secondary competition with eleven chefs battling for two spots. If four members of Group C get jackets, ten players on the bubble will fight for the lone remaining chef’s coat. The numbers game is grim for those who do not have jackets yet.
Eliminated: Tyler the Strange, Colin, Simon, Nina
Purgatory: Molly, Grayson, Edward, Janine
Contestants: Chris, Sarah, Richie, Heather, Nyesha, Whitney, Keith, Dakota, Ty-Lor, Chris, Chuy