Top Chef California: Episode 5
By Jason Lee
January 20, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Meanwhile, the chefs are still going after Philip for his disingenuous assertion that he intended to cook gummy mashed potatoes. Philip doesn't care. He's got his eyes on the prize. Namely, the prize money. That money would secure the financial viability of his restaurant. And he wants it.
Philip is the Marcel Vigneron of Top Chef: California.
The chefs arrive in sunny San Diego, not 12 blocks from Chad's restaurant. He vows that he won't let San Diego down by going home. Meeting the chefs is the hugely famous (or so we're told) Javier Plascencia - a Mexican chef who specializes in contemporary Baja cuisine. He'll be serving as Guest Judge for this Quickfire - actually, this Sudden Death (!) Quickfire-which will focus on a staple of San Diego's food scene, the fish taco. The cheftestants will have 20 minutes to come up with the best version they can, and the winner gets immunity.
Messy Wessy immediately grabs a lobster and sets it on his station before running to grab some foie gras. When he returns to his station, the lobster is gone. Wes then proceeds to interrogate other chefs with lobsters on their station - he will NOT abide by this sabotage! Jeremy protests that his lobster is the one he personally grabbed from the outdoor pantry. Marjorie says that she was given her lobster by Angelina.
“I didn't give you no lobster,” Angelina says, confused.
Ha ha, turns out that Wes didn't actually put his lobster down on his own station. Rather, he set it on Marjorie's station (who assumed that Angelina had fetched it for her) and scampered off to get foie gras. Wes's ugly accusations are forgotten (or at least he hopes so) and the cooking continues.
Twenty minutes later, time is called and the chefs step back from their plates. Including Angelina - who has nothing on her plate. Apparently, she plated her dish on her cutting board and never moved it onto the actual plates. In what has become almost a comedic reoccurrence, a steady stream of expletives usher forth from Angelina's mouth as she realizes her mistake. She's screwed and she knows it.
Javier and Padma go around to each station, and for the most part, it sounds like the chefs have done well with their fish tacos. Either Javier is a pretty easy judge, or fish tacos are simply not something that can be messed up (I'm thinking the latter). Ending up at the top of the challenge are Karen (her oyster taco with kimchi, sesame salsa beautifully blended Asian flavor), San Diego-native Chad (his grilled thresher shark taco with oyster and sea urchin had just the right amount of heat), and Kwame (his wahoo taco with truffle cream was moist and delicious). Taking home immunity is Chad, who sees this as one small step for him, and a giant leap for San Diego.
This being a Sudden Death Quickfire, the question is which chef will have to fight for his or her culinary life. There's little surprise there, as Padma explains that because Angelina plated no dish, she's automatically up for elimination.
I wrack my mind for which chef she should choose for her Sudden Death Cook-Off, and I quickly realize that there are no weak chefs left. The wheat has been separated from the chaff. I figure that her best bet is probably to pick Wes - and she does indeed. They'll have 20 minutes to cook a dish using only the ingredients that Javier incorporates in his Caesar salad.
Many chefs seem to have warmed up to Angelina as a perpetual underdog and she receives a significant amount of vocal support. That encouragement helps her put together a crostini with garlic, olive oil, grilled romaine, and anchovy. It's pretty underwhelming. It's basically a crostini with Caesar salad piled on top. Wes, on the other hand, has a fried egg with anchovy remoulade, grilled romaine, and croutons. It's not the prettiest dish, but it's far more creative than Angelina's.
Javier concurs and sends Angelina packing - a departure that's been a long-time coming (too long, some might say).
As Angelina walks off, Tom, Richard, and Emeril arrive from behind the chefs. With only 10 chefs remaining, they congratulate each person on making it this far and, passing out a variety of beers, they propose a toast.
Moving into exposition mode, Padma explains that San Diego is one of the top craft beer destinations, and all four of the judges collaborated on the four beers distributed amongst the cheftestants. The yellow bottles contain Padma's golden ale, with notes of jalapeño and ginger. The red bottles have Richard's stout, with ras el hanout, beets, and chocolate. The green bottles are Emeril's New Orleans-style beer with coffee, cayenne, and tangerine. Finally, the blue bottles are Tom's wheat beer, with lemon, coriander, and banana.
Surprising no one, for the Elimination Challenge, each cheftestant will have to make a dish that captures the essence of the beer that they've been given. They'll have $350, two hours to prep, and the opportunity to cook their dish at Richard's San Diego restaurant.
Before we know it, the chefs are off and cooking - but not before Wes bumps into a pile of half sheet pans and knocks them to the floor. Oh, Messy Wessy. You never change.
Many of the chefs are going through their own individual dramas. Marjorie struggles with operating a pressure cooker for the first time (really? You knew you were coming to compete on Top Chef and you didn't bother experimenting with a pressure cooker?). Karen wants to find a way to break Jeremy and Kwame's stranglehold on winning Elimination Challenges. Philip is frustrated with his inability to win challenges, despite cooking the most AMAZING, INNOVATIVE FOOD THERE IS. His ego is something else. Confessing that he's not sure how to wow the judges, “I'm just going to cook technically proficient food,” he vows. Aaaand, what exactly have you been aiming to do before now?
Meanwhile, Wes (for what feels like the umpteenth time) stresses about cooking in Richard's restaurant. Stop me if you've heard this already, but Wes just happens to have taken over the Executive Chef position at one of Richard's other restaurants, and thus many of these challenges feel “designed for [him] to fail at.”
With dishes designed to pair with Padma's beer, first up are Chad with an herb-roasted opah with ginger hominy, jalapeño purée, and tamarind glazed carrots, and Amar with a sous vide chicken breast, crispy chicken thigh, jalapeño popper, and tamarind ginger chutney. Both dishes are big hits. Tom loves the sweet and spicy quality of Chad's dish, while Richard praises Amar's dish as “outstanding.” “It makes you want to keep going back to the beer,” he says.
Next up are Karen, Wes, and Jeremy with dishes that pair with Richard's beer. Karen offers a roasted duck breast with cocoa nibs, beet purée, and ras el hanout-roasted carrots. Richard loves the use of cocoa nibs, as well as her incorporation of sweetness through the beets and carrots.
Wes frets that he let his meat rest too long, and he ends up being right. He has a lamb with roasted beet purée and ras el hanout-roasted carrots. Emeril and Padma both fault him for his dry, dry lamb. Richard calls the dish one dimensional, lacking the nuance of his amazing beer.
Finally, we have Jeremy's duck with chocolate granola, habanero ras el hanout pickled beets, and a blueberry hibiscus reduction. Richard likes the visual of the dish but wishes there were more fat. Tom likes the granola but finds it light on chocolate flavor.
The next batch of chefs is led off by Marjorie, who pairs Emeril's beer with roasted potato gnocchi, chicken ragu, and roasted mushrooms. Tom asks if Marjorie braised her chicken in the beer (she did) because he can't taste any of the beer flavor in the dish. Richard is willing to overlook that, however, because he finds the dish utterly delicious.
Philip has a roasted duck breast with rutabaga purée. Unfortunately for all the people at home who strongly dislike him (including me), Emeril is a fan of the dish, praising the use of crackling and fruit. Sigh.
Last in this group is Carl, who has a grilled shortrib, ancho chile, coffee, and dried cherry salsa. Emeril wishes that he'd used a bit more salt, and other diners find that the flavors come too close to the beer, leading each to cancel out the other.
The cheftestants working with Tom's beer are last up. Isaac kicks things off with a corn and crab velouté, crispy potato, king crab, and sriracha “bananaise” - a banana mayonnaise. After the table has a good laugh about that ridiculous name, Tom compliments the king crab and criticizes the velouté. Padma agreeds. “I don't think you needed [the velouté],” she says. “If you'd served me just beautiful toast and crab salad, it would have been a home run.”
Kwame is next with a chicken mojo, banana sofrito, and charred green onion. Tom is blown away by how good it is. “It's mojo street food but without losing its soul,” he says.
Last is Jason with pork and squid meatballs, grilled marinated squid, a carrot wheat beer sauce, and salsa povera. No one sitting at the table enjoys it. Richard proclaims it to be one of the weirdest things he's ever eaten. Tom hates the soggy texture of the meatballs. “It's bait,” he says.
Judges Table takes place in Richard's restaurant. Awesome. Very old school of them. Tom compliments the group for putting out “sensational” food for the most part. “It's getting tough and will only get tougher,” he warns. Padma, who's all business, announces the judges' top three: Amar, Karen, and Kwame. All three, Tom notes, were spot on in their flavors and pairing with the beers. Amar had amazing, assertive flavors, Karen had an addictive beet sauce, and Kwame made a street food dish that would have been at home in any fine dining establishment.
Though it seems like Kwame might be taking home his third win, Padma announces Karen as this week's winner. She's thrilled. After narrowly avoiding elimination last week, this is a welcome development. Good for her.
The news is not so good for the three chefs at the bottom of the challenge, Jason, Isaac, and Wes. Isaac's dish was ruined by his velouté, Wes overcooked his lamb, and Jason made a meatball dish that led Richard to wonder if it had been inspired by some alien cuisine (I kid you not, that's what Richard said).
At the end of the day, Tom says, it's the person who made the worst cooked dish that gets sent home. Though I initially suspected that alien-abduction Jason would be the one going home, Tom's comment leaves no one surprised that Wes is the one packing his knives today.
Wes chalks it up to the fact that he felt immense pressure cooking in Richard's restaurant, and that's what got to him. Frankly, though, he's been talking about this pressure all season - it just finally caught up to him. Wes didn't expect Top Chef to be as tough as it was, but he's proud of what he accomplished. And hey, at least he sent Angelina home.