Top Chef Boston Recap: Episode 11
By Jason Lee
January 19, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
George points out that there’s a lot of diversity among the remaining chefs. “We’ve got a little Asian (Mei), a gay Asian (Melissa), a gay black dude (Greg), and a white straight guy (himself),” he says. Wow, way to be as reductive as possible, George.
Before we know it, we’re in the Top Chef Kitchen for the Quickfire Challenge. Wait. No, we’re not. What’s going on?
Padma stands with 2014 James Beard Award winner Ashley Christenen and announces that there will be no Quickfire Challenge today. We’re heading straight into the Elimination Challenge.
Cue Elimination Challenge graphic.
The challenge is straightforward. The chefs will head to Island Creek Oyster Farm where they’ll dredge oysters and the rest of their ingredients. After that, they’ll have to create two dishes that utilize local seafood - one appetizer and one entrée. This is a big job, so the chefs will be getting a little help.
And in very Top-Chef fashion, in walks a family member for each chef - George’s dad, Greg’s sister, Melissa’s mom, and Mei’s brother. There are a lot of happy exclamations and some tears... except from Mei and her brother. Their reunion is casual and laid back.
Padma explains that their respective family members will be acting as their sous chefs. The cheftestants receive this news with mixed reactions. Mei is less than thrilled. “I’lll do all the work,” she promises, because her brother “can’t cook.” George is similarly worried - he’s not sure if his dad will be able to take direction from him. “Nothing was ever good enough for him,” he recalls.
The final twist: the cheftestants will not be allowed to touch the appetizers. Instead, those dishes will be executed entirely by their loved ones. As such, there will be no elimination this week. Rather, the winner of the Elimination Challenge will go directly to the final round in Mexico. The remaining three will fight it out one more time next week.
The chefs and their family members head over to Island Creek and set sail on their ships to dredge up oysters. Amusing family drama ensues. Mei’s brother breaks a crank on the boat. Mei scowls. George’s Greek father is very reluctant to try a raw oyster. He is finally convinced to try one - his facial expression clearly indicates that he relishes neither the flavor nor the texture.
The cheftestants complete their shopping at Whole Foods then head back to a beautiful house in Gloucester. Seriously, this is one of the nicest places I’ve ever seen TC-ers stay at. It rivals some of the Real World houses. Dinner gets started and the chefs start reminiscing with their family members.
Melissa’s mom talks about how surprised she was when Melissa told her that she wanted to enroll in culinary school instead of college. Though her mom eventually came to support her decision, her father never has. Her parents are divorced and her mom still resents the fact that her father has never once visited her restaurant. Melissa comments that she’s not sure if her father’s reaction is due to her chosen profession or her sexuality.
Mei can sympathize. Though she does not share this with the rest of the group, she tells us that she had the same upbringing as Melissa, but both of her parents turned out like Melissa’s dad. Neither supports her choice of profession. But she’s long gotten over it. “Approval would be nice, but I don’t need it,” she says. You can see why she’s developed the hard shell that she carries around her.
For his part, George talks about how his dad used to own a diner but sold it to invest in George’s new restaurant. George’s dad is proud of his son but is not sure what to make of his high-end culinary food. It’s a far cry from diner fare.
The next day dawns and the cooking starts. Mei kicks things off and immediately gets frustrated with her little brother/sous chef. He’s just too damn slow. Greg starts up 30 mins later - he says that he’s not playing it safe with his dish. He’s going for a more umami flavor this time, as opposed to this typical spice/herb cuisine.
Melissa is next up and has a very ambitious appetizer for her mom to make. She’s give her mom a 27 step recipe for a chawanmushi - an Asian egg custard. George starts up last with his dad.
Before we know it (honestly, not much happens in this episode - it’s just a lot of commentary by the chefs about their family member), it’s time for service. Mei’s brother has an oyster with soy/yuzu vinaigrette and radish for his appetizer. Padma loves it. Mei’s entrée is surf clam and lobster with a tomato/coconut broth. It’s a huge hit with the table. People adore the raw surf clam. Tom says that the dish’s balance is its strongest point - sweetness from the coconut, acid from the seaweed, seafood perfectly cooked. Ashley loves the broth.
Greg is next but has spent more time focusing helping his sister with her appetizer. He realizes too late that his oven has been too hot for his halibut. He pulls it out but knows it might be overcooked. He’s not sure that it’ll be enough to get him a spot in the finale.
His sister serves up a tomato/watermelon soup with pickled cucumber and shrimp. The diners love the flavors of the shrimp and soup. Tom predicts that Greg’s sister will no longer be a mere bystander in the kitchen after this.
Greg’s entrée, on the other hand, is not such a hit. He has halibut with oysters, mussels, and dashi. One diner immediately asks whether Greg was happy with the cooking of his fish (he wasn’t). Tom comments that while everything Greg serves is usually clean and tight, “I gotta say, this wasn’t.” After Greg walks away, the diners all agree that Greg’s entrée was a letdown after the appetizer. “Complexity gone wrong,” one person notes.
George, who was so worried about his dad taking orders from him, is impressed and happy with how everything has turned out. He confidently brings his food to the table. His dad has grilled oysters and razor clams with cucumber. Rick Moonen (a former Top Chef Master contestant) loves the flavor but wishes there was a little bit more salt. George’s entrée is a butter-poached lobster with sunchokes. Tom loves it but says that the use of microgreen was totally unnecessary. Many diners compliment the sunchoke puree.
Melissa is last and she’s thrilled with how her mom has been in the kitchen. “She’s kicking butt!” Melissa says, “She’s even ahead of schedule.” The diners dig into her mom’s chawanmushi first and they adore it. Rick Moonen specifically compliments the smokiness in the dish. Melissa’s mom is absolutely relieved. The last thing she wanted to do was sink her daughter’s chances.
Melissa has the same protein and cooking style as George’s dish - she offers a butter-poached lobster with onion soubise and a pea puree. It’s a hit. Ashley calls it the “most perfectly cooked lobster [she’s] ever had.” Tom says the lobster is perfectly cooked and the onions are delicious, but the veggies are the absolute star. “As usual,” Padma chimes in.
Wow, if this were an actual Elimination Challenge, I’d venture to say that Greg would be going home.
The diners confer now that all the dishes have been served. They agree that Greg’s sister actually did a much better job on her dish than Greg himself did, Mei’s entrée was fantastic, George nailed his sunchoke puree, and Melissa took a real risk by letting her mom make an egg custard.
The chefs and their sous chefs are brought out for the verdict. The sous chefs, in particular, look terrified. Tom says that today’s challenge encapsulated what food can do, which is bring people together. The dishes today were overall very good, though some sous chefs did better than their cheftestant - a pointed dig at Greg.
Padma says that two chefs stood out in this challenge - Mei and Melissa. Ashley characterizes Mei’s broth as “romantic restraint” and calls it “just tremendously successful.” Tom agrees, saying “we’ll all think about [that broth] for a long time.” As for Melissa, her butter-poached lobster was perfectly cooked.
In summation, Tom notes that it was hard to pick a winner because the two dishes were so close. He wishes that he could send both chefs to the finale on the basis of what they did today - Melissa and Mei both respond that they’d be perfectly happy with that outcome.
Padma, however, will have none of that. “For us,” she says, “one chef not only cooked a flawless, creative dish, but also demonstrated a lot of leadership in helping her family member be successful.” Based on the fact that Melissa’s appetizer was better received than Mei, I’m thinking that Melissa will probably take this one home . . . .
...and she does! Melissa glows and her mom cries. Melissa is our first finalist this season. She’s thrilled that her mom was part of her success and hopes that her father will watch this episode and be proud of her as well. She says she’ll never forget this win.
Tom explains the judges’ decision. “It was the combination of both the appetizer and the entrée,” he says, praising Melissa’s confidence in her mom’s ability to pull off a classic egg custard.
As the episode closes, Melissa notes that she’s made many adjustments along the way. She’s securely in the top three and hungry for more.