Watch What We Say: Top Chef

By Jason Lee

January 23, 2009

We really liked Radhika, but her performance in the last two episodes was brutal.

New at BOP:
Share & Save
Digg Button  
Print this column
Padma tells Fabio that the fish is undercooked and he tries to salvage the situation. "Would you like me to bring you another?" he asks winningly.

"That won't be necessary," Padma says, dismissing him with a flip of the hand. BOOM. That sounds like the guillotine on Leah to me. Or at least, I hope so.

Other than Fabio's service, it seems like there hasn't been a single outstanding thing from this team and I'm feeling good about the chances of Horrible Loser Leah going home. But then, Stefan's desserts come out. And they're not just good, they're great. They're transcendent. They're not only the best food of the night, but from the reactions of the judges, they deserve to be put in the Smithsonian for future generations to gawk at and admire.

My heart sinks.

The judges begin their deliberations and it sounds like they're split. They're deciding between a team that had better food and a team that had much better service and fantastic desserts. I'm not sure which way they'll go and I'm just praying that the comment cards go in favor of Sahana. "The diners will save Radhika," I think to myself, "the food is what matters most."

Apparently...not. Padma heads to the stew room and calls out the Sunset Lounge team. Apparently the judges were split but by a very slim margin, the diners liked Sunset Lounge over Sahana. "NO NO NO NO NO!" I start yelling. "If neither team did well then you should NOT name a team winner, but instead, choose a loser from either team!"

If the judges had heeded my advice, this scenario would have resulted in Leah's elimination, as Tom tells her that it was the worst dish of the night and that if their team had ended up losing, it would have been an easy decision for them. But it was not to be. Fabio's service and Stefan's brilliant desserts saved the day and they ended up safe, with Stefan winning for the second Elimination Challenge in a row. Sigh. Sometimes I hate this show.




Advertisement



Sahana is called out and Radhika opens the discussion by saying that each chef came up with their own dish and that she didn't cook a thing. Obviously, she hasn't watched previous seasons because otherwise she would know that this is a recipe for disaster. She didn't cook, she just worked as front of the house. And she wasn't very good at that.

Speaking of "not very good," Carla's desserts sucked. Just plain sucked. She fesses up to the fact that they were bad and says that she knew they were bad, but tried to send them out of the kitchen with love. Somehow, I don't think the judges are buying this excuse. They instead blame Radhika, saying that if she knew that the frozen yogurt (as one example) wasn't frozen, she shouldn't have introduced it as frozen yogurt as it set up an expectation that would inevitably fall short.

"Should you go home?" asks Tom.

"If your problem was with the front of the house, then maybe yes, I should go home but if it had to do with the food then I don't think I should go," says Radhika.


Continued:       1       2       3       4       5

     


 
 

Need to contact us? E-mail a Box Office Prophet.
Friday, March 29, 2024
© 2024 Box Office Prophets, a division of One Of Us, Inc.