Top Chef: New Orleans Recap
By David Mumpower
January 14, 2014
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Carrie’s experience during the episode was less positive. After being the most consistent chef for the body of the season, Carrie struggled with a dish during the Louisiana State cooking challenge. Then, she failed to highlight the local fish products during a fish challenge. The lingering memory of her prior dish in combination with her struggles on the current one caused Carrie to be voted out of the competition. Then, Louis won again in Last Chance Kitchen, and so Carrie went from being a strong contender to being eliminated in a single episode. With such a similarly talented group of chefs remaining, such surprises may become the norm from here.
Tonight’s episode begins with another reminder that Nick and Carlos are fighting. The latest eruption in their passive/aggressive feud involved Nick’s knife. The Philadelphian grudgingly allowed his Mexican counterpart to borrow the ultra-sharp blade in order to complete his sushi dish on time. Nick firmly stated that the cutlery had sentimental value as a former wedding present. Carlos promised to treat it well. At the end of the episode, Nick found the fish encrusted knife, and bemoaned its unclean state. This moment of selfishness on Carlos’ part caused me to appreciate that Top Chef IS long overdue for a knife fight. I mean, every player shows up armed for combat.
With so few remaining contestants in the winner’s bracket, there is not a lot to discuss beyond the Nick/Carlos bro-feud. Stephanie and Nick discuss whether or not there will be immunity at the Quickfire challenge, and Stephanie savors her victory in the John Besh’s Second Wife challenge. Then, the editing cuts to world famous French chef Jacques Pépin in the Top Chef kitchen. Already, the Quickfire is ready to begin.
Today’s competition is straightforward but deviously difficult. Pépin prepares his “all-time favorite dish”, dover sole with artichokes and asparagus. The remaining half dozen cheftestants are expected to replicate his food. The one who is closest in technique and quality will earn immunity during the Elimination challenge. That aspect is an unexpected wrinkle. Immunity is usually off the table at this stage of the season so the stakes for the Quickfire challenge are exponentially higher than normal.
The players watch humbly as they are honored with the greatest cooking lesson of their lives. At the age of 78, Pépin has lost none of his cooking skills. He operates with an easy confidence. Stephanie, unofficial narrator of season 11, describes his performance as “literally effortless." As always, she has summarized the spectacle perfectly. The highlight of the preparation, at least for me, is when he needs only moments to shape butter shavings into a “butter rose." There is a three minute video of this on YouTube that doesn’t look any better. Pépin crafts his rose in less than five seconds. He then suggests wryly (but honestly) that the contestants can “now charge 30 bucks for it”. Chefs do not get world famous by cooking skill alone.
Shirley immediately deduces that anyone with classical French training has a huge advantage in this challenge. She believes that she and Nick and are the primary contenders for immunity this week. For his part, Nick relays that his previous job ended because a new company bought the restaurant. They promptly offered to re-hire everyone previously employed there…except for Nick. Given the way that Nick has excelled on Top Chef this season, somebody at that company needs to be fired. All Nick states is that he has been cooking “pissed off” for a year now. I think you are supposed to put love, not hate, into the food but Nick’s grudge-cooking seems to work for him.
After 35 minutes of duplication, the chefs present their dishes. Carlos and Nina in particular have struggled mightily. Carlos has failed with time management while Nina forgot to turn on her oven (!), making me feel better about any number of cooking mistakes I’ve made in the past. Brian doesn’t have all of his components on the plate in a timely matter, so his presentation is disastrous. He doesn’t even remember the sauce! Brian wryly notes, “Good thing this is not an elimination challenge right now.” Suffice to say that his tang is less than hip today.
When chef Pépin reveals his losers, there is one surprise. Nina is spared such criticism while Stephanie is on the bottom. She had honestly informed the septuagenarian that it was not the dish she wanted to present to him. I had not expected her dish to be less cooked than Nina’s given the latter woman’s oven mistake, though. As Shirley had deduced, the choice for winner of this challenge comes down to her versus Nicholas. And she is not on the happy side of the decision. Nicholas wins the challenge and thereby earns immunity. He will be one of the final five contestants on Top Chef season 11.
The Elimination challenge embraces the delicate history of New Orleans with regards to cultural battles between the French and the Spanish, each of which claimed the land as theirs. Sparing you the history and civics lesson, what matters is that all of the above is an excuse to pit a pair of two Michelin star winning chefs against one another. They will battle by proxy via Top Chef teams. Yes, the remaining six players will be divided into two groups, meaning that whomever is placed on Nick’s team had better win. Otherwise, those two players will be a coin flip for elimination since he is safe. The design of this particular challenge is ill considered.
The early portion is fun. Julian Serrano and Dominique Crenn are both vaunted chefs. Crenn was the first woman to earn multiple Michelin stars in the United States. Serrano is a Spaniard who presumably cannot hit the curveball (apologies to those of you who are not Major League fans…the lack of baseball in the winter makes me get twitchy). The two chefs will guide their teams through a five course menu designed to highlight French/Spanish influences.
The same ingredients are to be highlighted by both teams. They are olives, almonds, mussels, chicken and chocolate. The teams designing the meals are Shirley, Stephanie and Nick on the French team and Nina, Brian and Carlos on the Spanish team. Since we just learned that Shirley and Nick are classically trained French chefs, they have a huge advantage, something Nina immediately deduces. Brian, Carlos and she do not prepare Spanish meals as a rule.
The coaches guide the teams to some unusual decisions. Crenn does not want to craft a classical French menu; instead, she wants to tell a story through the five courses that better represents New Orleans. She is forceful with her suggestions, and thereby intimidates the French team to do her bidding. Stephanie in particular seems uncomfortable with some of the ideas, but she is far too insular to directly combat such an established chef. We will see if that costs her.
Serrano is similarly in charge on the Spanish side. He is a bit more open-ended with his suggestions. He asks for feedback. Then, he makes a finite decision and his word is law. The problem with introducing such established chefs into the group dynamic of the existing six chefs is that the famous people overwhelm the others with their willpower. So far, this feels like a challenge that should have been handled earlier in the season rather than this late in the game.
During the shopping phase of the challenge, Nick utters the words that should terrify his teammates. “Obviously, it’s a little risky but I have immunity so I can take a chance on this challenge.” Presuming that there will be a winning team and a losing team, Nick’s risk could have displeasing ramifications for Stephanie and Shirley if he really screws up his dish. It’s a fairly selfish move by him in that regard. If anything, he should make the safest, most delicious dish in his arsenal to protect his teammates from (avoidable) potential disaster.
Serrano is much more hands on in his approach than his counterpart, Crenn. She discusses the menu and then largely acts as an observer/team cheerleader. Serrano shows Nina exactly how he wants everything cooked. And chopped. Nina commits the cardinal sin of slicing too thinly, and so she is appropriately scolded. Brian politely describes Serrano as a micro-manager, which is kind of like saying that Warren Buffett is okay with money. You know those parents who transparently build their children’s science projects? Serrano is acting like that during the Elimination challenge.
Nick is a bit flummoxed. He believes that Shirley and Stephanie rely on him too much. The Philadelphia native should be used to that, as he anchored the winning Restaurant Wars team in similar fashion. He also develops the tendency of Crenn, as he starts to become rather dictatorial as plating approaches. Nick is in complete charge. That is problematic because his neck is not on the line if the dishes fail to pass muster.
The Spanish and French teams simultaneously present their courses to the judges. The presentation of the first round is –accidentally or not – a matchup of Nick versus Carlos. Nick states the details of his meal then grows immediately annoyed when Carlos trumps him by announcing his plates…in Spanish. Nick cannot top such an authentic touch.
The actual combatants in round one are Shirley and Nina, both of whom are lavishly praised for their plates. The lone criticism of Shirley comes from Tom Colicchio (*gulp*), who likes the components but does not believe they pair well. I think the Spanish team wins this round, but it’s close.
Round two is Stephanie vs. Nina. Both dishes are exceptional. Emeril adores Nina’s bowl of food, indicating he could every bite. Meanwhile, Tom positively gushes about Stephanie’s flavor. Guest judge Rick Tramonto neutralizes some of the praise by noting that his mussels had some grit. I again believe Spanish is the language of victory in this round.
A handicap match occurs during round three. Carlos finally presents his dish against the tandem of Stephanie and Shirley. The results are predictable. Carlos’ limitations as a chef have been on display the entire season. He is amazing in one particular skill set. Any time he steps beyond his comfort zone, he struggles. Meanwhile, Stephanie and Shirley’s food is arguably the tastiest of the evening. It took until 2013 for this to happen but the French have finally won a battle!
Remember earlier when I mentioned how forceful Ms. Crenn was during the meal planning? The fourth course is where her ambitious plans undo the French troops. Nick was asked to create a “nest” of corn silk. He had only worked with such material once previously, and he clearly does not craft the dish he wants. The plan had been for the silk to “dissipate fast”. The plan goes awry.
Shirley and Stephanie are given samples. The looks on their faces tell a Tolstoy-sized story about the mistakes with the dish. As Stephanie starts to talk him out of the presentation, Nick curtly dismisses her, firmly stating “Let it go!” That is easy for the dude with immunity to say. Stephanie even states, “It’s my ass.”
As the fourth course is sampled by the judges, Brian and Carlos’ dish is praised by all of them save for Crenn. She finds the chicken dry and the dish boring. Padma becomes the tiebreaker in this argument, noting that her chicken is excellent. Crenn’s face may as well have a Mike Tyson-esque “How dare you!” tattoo on it at this statement. In reality, the battle is over after the fourth course. Nick has blown it for his team. Don’t worry, Nick! It’s Stephanie’s ass, not yours! I think this officially makes you her pimp.
I would be remiss to ignore this odd aspect of tonight’s judging, though. Crenn and Serrano both sample the fare of their team as well as the opposition. The results are…predictable. Serrano loves all the flavors that the Spanish team provides. It’s a bit masturbatory how much he enjoys his own meals. Crenn is no different. Even when a dish clearly fails, as occurs with the fourth course, she supports Team France while attacking Team Spain. For what it’s worth, nobody ever says (Team) Italy. Overall, this is another manner in which the Elimination challenge is ill-conceived.
The fifth course is just a formality because the Spanish team has already won three rounds. And Nick made a corn silk nest. Brian and Nick are the people who cook the respective desserts. Neither of them is especially good. Nick has not “take(n) it to the next level”. Brian’s flavors are too sweet. I would judge this round a draw based on the comments provided.
The editing is more thoughtful than normal this week. Tom and his team kindly announce their favorite and least favorite dishes. Nina’s gazpacho , the second course, is the best dish from Team Spain. Stephanie and Shirley have presented the best overall dish of the night, the third course. Tom notes that they also have delivered the worst dish of the night, Nick’s fourth course disaster. So Team Spain is the winner.
The problem is readily apparent. Shirley and Stephanie have performed exceptionally well on this challenge. Nick’s mistakes have cost them the victory. They are headed to Judges Table because of the player who was the worst of the three. And he has immunity. The judges appreciate their problem. They go out of their way to enumerate to Nick the ways in which he has failed. The intent is obvious. They hope that he will do the noble thing and resign from Top Chef. In reality, the person who should turn in their notice is whoever designed this episode’s challenges.
There should not be immunity during the final handful of episodes anyway. There absolutely should not be team challenges this late in the game. The combination of the two is absolutely venomous. One of Stephanie or Shirley will be going home because they cooked great. Their “mistake” was in being on the wrong team. One could argue that they also should have talked Nick out of taking a huge risk. Stephanie attempted to do just that, though. Nick shut her down.
At Judges Table, Nick passes on the opportunity to fall on his sword like a good little samurai warrior. Instead, he notes that he earned immunity and that is how the game operates. He is 100% correct with his assertion. I still believe that he makes the wrong choice. After tonight’s Last Chance Kitchen, there will still be six chefs remaining the competition. He only has a 16.7% chance of winning.
Had he behaved appropriately relative to the situation, Nick would have become the Hero of Season 11, maybe in the history of Top Chef. Such an act of generosity would have resonated in the insular world of haute cuisine. His reputation and thereby his career would have been secured. Instead, he was so obsessed with the possibility of winning Top Chef that he selfishly decided to prioritize himself rather than do the right thing. I understand the how and why of his decision. I simply believe it was short-sighted.
Because Nick is immune from elimination, the choices are reduced to Shirley and Stephanie. Tom plays the detective in determining which of the women had more responsibility for the dish of the night, the third course. Stephanie, never one to take credit that is not deserved, acts to her detriment in the way that Nick did not. She is honest about her contribution and thereby seals her fate in the game. Stephanie, one of the two best performers during the Elimination challenge, is voted out of Top Chef.
This ruling is the worst miscarriage of justice since Stephanie’s friend Kristen Kish’s loss at Restaurant Wars, and possibly even worse because Kristen did cook poorly during that challenge. Stephanie was exceptional tonight. As such, she joins Beverly from Season 9’s Fit for an Evil Queen as the two players who cooked the finest cuisine in a losing effort.
On a personal note, this decision absolutely destroys my enjoyment of the rest of the season. Stephanie’s quick wit and self-deprecating sense of humor won me over to the point that she has become my favorite player in the history of the series. I would gently suggest that anybody seeking a host for a cooking show should give her serious consideration. She’s a natural for such hosting duties.