Top Chef New Orleans Recap: Episode 4
By David Mumpower
October 30, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Simply stated, Bret never seemed confident or comfortable in this setting. While his elimination had to be disappointing, I doubt Bret will shed a lot of tears once his run in Last Chance Kitchen ends. He does not seem like someone who enjoys participating in Top Chef. A lot of great chefs on Top Chef Masters have behaved similarly. This format is not for everyone.
Tonight’s episode begins with a focus upon one of last week’s players who narrowly avoided elimination, Louis. As the other players console/congratulate him over the recent turn of events, the executive chef of Spoonbar (awesome name!) describes the shame and humiliation he feels whenever he loses. He somewhat casually mentions the first negative review he received, and notes that the emotion it stirred drove him to improve as a chef. I worry about how much focus Louis has received over the past two episodes, but I will note that many of the most triumphant chefs on Top Chef have shared similar characteristics. The ability to respect criticism and learn from it is a profound skill in any profession, particularly one that involves as much feedback as cooking.
Speaking of Nicholas, he calls his wife early in the episode. Her reaction is one of unbridled joy. An aspect of the competition that is rarely highlighted is that all of the players are required to uproot their lives as well as those of their families in order to take a run at glory. Joshua from last season had to leave a pregnant wife behind. Nicholas has abandoned his wife and children in the short term in order to attempt to make their lives better in the long run. Clearly, his wife is feeling the burden that comes from that combination of increased parental responsibility and isolation from one’s life partner. Nicholas is getting a winner’s edit thus far. On Top Chef, that doesn’t actually mean that he will win, but a deep run is usually in the offing for players who get the winner’s edit. As an example, Sheldon, Josh and Brooke were all recipients of the winner’s edit last season.
As likable as Nicholas is, Travis happens to be exactly the opposite. The brash 27-year-old is the one with the Asian dude fetish if you don’t recall. He is currently dating a Vietnamese man, and he has been to Vietnam. Ergo, he is a walking encyclopedia of Vietnamese lore, at least in his mind. His massive ego is the focus of the rest of the episode, because we are about to have a Vietnam challenge. Spoiler: he will not win. Second spoiler: he will not handle his defeat with grace. Travis is a know-it-all punk whose presence on Top Chef lessens the show this season. I will say that now so that you have no doubt how I feel the rest of the recap.
How does Travis’ descent into heel status begin? Emeril Lagasse arrives with news of the Elimination Challenge. He and his friend Eddie Huang inform the players of the history of shrimping in New Orleans. Apparently, the 1970s bore witness to an influx of Vietnamese immigrants whose cooking techniques and skills on the docks (don’t make it dirty) fundamentally altered the nature of seafood in The Big Easy. In lieu of a Quickfire challenge, the chefs will take a tour of various high spots of Vietnamese cuisine including the shrimp docks.
Over the course of the next 45 minutes, Travis manages to make the entire challenge entirely about him. You see, Travis is dating a Vietnamese man and simply by exchanging fluids with a native of the area, he believes he has been imbued with the wisdom of the ancestors of that country. He also notes multiple times during the episode – and not for the first time this season – that his boyfriend’s grandmother cooked an authentic meal for him in Vietnam. To his mind, he is now an expert in Vietnamese cuisine. Using this same logic in another field, anyone who goes to watch the Denver Broncos play football this season immediately becomes every bit as good a quarterback as Peyton Manning. I’m not even exaggerating for effect here. That truly is his stated logic.
If the Elimination challenge were an individual competition, Travis’ madness would not be a problem. Alas, there are 15 remaining players who are divided into three teams of five members. In other words, one unfortunate quartet of people has to put up with Travis for the entire challenge. The misguided individuals are briefly happy about this turn of events once the teams are announced.
Bene, Janine, Sara and Stephanie are the unfortunate souls who must suffer through the 100% insufferable Travis. They are all members of the Green Team. Brian, Carlos, Louis, Michael and Nicholas comprise the Orange Team, while Carrie, Justin, Nina, Patty and Shirley represent the Red Team. Based on what we have seen of the players thus far this season, the Red Team appears head and shoulders above the other two teams in terms of natural cooking ability. I still think that if Travis were placed on their team, they would still be 90% likely to be on the bottom this week, though.
“No offense to Eddie or Emeril but I could probably give ‘em a crash course in Vietnam. “ – Travis.
You thought I was joking above about his ego, didn’t you? I am forcefully reminded of a joke from a (phenomenal) Simpsons episode, “The Food Wife”. One of the foodies brags, “We discovered Korean BBQ in this town.” When pressed about the fact Korean people would disagree, the same person argues, “Oh sure, they can cook it, but they don’t GET it.” That is a great joke because it is so over the top. No real person could possibly believe that, right? Well, Travis does…
The journey across New Orleans is fascinating. Emeril and his pal Eddie choose several under the radar locations, starting with Don Phuong Restaurant & Bakery. New Orleans native Michael comes alive at this announcement, and quizzes Emeril about the place. Nina clearly despises Michael, as she rolls her eyes at his words and offers a camera interview about how he is “faker than Pamela Anderson’s breasts.” Faker than massive saline injections is pretty fake, dude.
After exiting the bakery, the Green Team begins to fight on the bus. This fight will last the entire competition. The first debate involves Romaine, which Travis supports. Sara is probably the most informed chef with regards to Vietnamese cuisine due to her professional experience with Wolfgang Puck. She visibly recoils at the suggestion. Travis shrinks as he defensively states that they cook Vietnamese food that way in Denver. What I take from this is that either Sara in particular terrifies Travis or strong women in general do. Keep on him, Sara! Make him cry!
At the shrimp dock, Shirley does some sleuthing. She is introduced to some of the wives of the shrimpers. Rather than ask the men about the fishing process, she skips straight to the end of the page. She queries the women about the shrimp meals they prefer for their families. She learns they heavily apply butter to their dishes to enhance the flavor of the shrimp. Very, very smart, Shirley.
Carlos goes the other way with it by asking a man who doesn’t do the cooking what he likes. The shrimper suggests a soup. Since Carlos has never tasted Vietnamese food before (my brother!), he stresses about choice of meals for so long that Nicholas appears ready to smack him. Eventually, he settles upon the soup. The fact that so much of his indecision is captured on camera indicates that his meal will be either exquisite or atrocious. Given his experience with Vietnamese food, I suspect Carlos is in a world of trouble.
The final stop is Kim Anh’s Noodle House, a strip mall location whose exterior appearance belies the quality of its meals. During this meal, Eddie attempts to relay the philosophy behind each dish. Travis announces that the meal “hits home.” Eddie busts up at this, noting, “says the white guy.” Eddie is 100% correct with his mocking. Travis is 100% pissed. The two gentlemen feud for the rest of the episode. Eddie even carries the grudge to Judges Table, which isn’t cool of him but I understand the frustration.
The problem with having a know-it-all in a team challenge grows apparent at the grocery store. The chefs have a set amount of time to shop at Hong Kong Market (many of their foods are available at www.HongKongMarketNOLA.com if you’re interested). Travis immediately starts barking out orders, and Sara turns on him almost immediately. Travis puts ingredients into the cart then Sara pulls them out. Sara clearly has zero respect for Travis. We quickly see the fallout from their feud when the chefs reach the kitchen and begin to unpack their groceries. The lemongrass that Travis and Janine grabbed has been removed. Apparently, lemongrass is a key ingredient in Vietnamese meal preparation.
Sara believed that they grabbed too much, and so the group winds up with nowhere near enough. Eddie laughs at Travis over this. I do not believe that Eddie will be Travis’ next Asian sexual conquest.
The meal preparations are largely uneventful beyond the Lemongrass Incident and the rest of Team Travis. Janine recognizes that she has messed up the shrimp dish. Justin watches in horror as the preparations go awry. For the second straight episode, he resists the temptation to aid a flagging competitor. Instead, he notes during his interview that a fried dish should never be dipped in sauce because such behavior negates the crispy nature of the protein. Justin then quotes Napoleonic battle strategy, something I haven’t heard anyone do since that Sports Night episode. If you don’t know the one I mean, A) Shame on you. B) It’s that Napeleon’s battle plan was simple. “First we show up. Then we see what happens.” That really explains Waterloo, doesn’t it?
The three teams feel like they have been divided into three basic groups: The Best of the Best, the Best of the Rest, and The Poor Bastards Stuck with Travis. The Red Team absolutely kills the challenge. They present second. Before they do, the Orange Team lowers expectations by delivering some food so bland that Tom laments every dish. He honestly confides that he loves Vietnamese food so much that all the first batch of meals have made him do is want to go to a good Vietnamese place afterward. Tom, ask Travis to introduce you to his boyfriend’s grandmother. You’ll feel like Adrian Cronauer by the end of dinner.
What does the Red Team do differently? They basically copy the menu of their predecessors while delivering superior dishes across the board. Even the random people in the restaurant offer comments about how much better the second batch of Pho is compared to the first. By the time the Red Team is done, I am convinced that the Orange Team is going to be on the bottom this week.
Then, the Green Team presents their fare. I’ve seen more popular food at restaurants currently being shut down by the Health Department. Here are a few random comments from the judges:
“There’s no balance in the dish.”
“I don’t like the texture of what was inside the spring roll.”
“Can we talk about this atrocious rice? It feels like they oiled the water.”
“This dish is totally weird to me.”
“Their miss with the red sauce was sooooo epic.”
“That shrimp was hammered.”
“That was not broken rice. That was like baby food.”
Only Stephanie’s dessert macaroon is above the fray. Travis, amusingly enough is probably safe as well because while his dish was imbalanced, Tom didn’t hate it as much as Gail and Eddie (natch) did. Since Tom generally gets the last call on elimination, Travis has successfully led his fellow lambs to slaughter then received a call from the governor to gain a stay of execution for himself.
Moments after the judges finish conversing, the Red Team is invited to the back to have hosannas hailed upon them. Justin, Shirley and Nina in particular are lauded for their accomplishments. All three of them have established themselves as upper echelon competitors thus far this season. I expect them to celebrate Justin again, but I am surprised when Shirley is revealed as the winner for the second time this season, the other being a Quickfire. She joins Carrie as the only multi-time winners thus far. I mean it when I say that all of the best players thus far somehow wound up on the same team.
Judges Table is brutal for Team Travis. Eddie harangues Kid Ego for failing to craft an authentic dish. Janine laments her decision to trust Travis by cooking a Vietnamese dish with a tomato-based sauce. Eddie again assails Travis with a simple, valid comment, “It’s almost like you (Travis) saw a UFO and then told them to draw it.” Janine nods her agreement.
From the way the discourse proceeds, I begin to realize that Travis’ behavior has worked against him. Eddie does a fantastic job of framing him for the crimes of others. When the judges announce their decision, however, Tom reminds Eddie that even if he led them down the wrong path, each individual has a personal responsibility to follow it. And Padma notes that everyone is in charge of their own dish. In this case, Janine has delivered the worst one, and so she is eliminated. Summarizing: an Australian woman crafted a Vietnamese dish based on the advice of an American who claimed but did not demonstrate expertise in the relevant cooking style. That is a vicious way to lose.