Top Chef Recap

By Jason Lee

February 5, 2009

I would rule on Top Scallop.

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After having done so well in the first fish, Leah stumbles badly. She makes a couple of rudimentary mistakes and gives up. Literally. She gives up. She puts down her knife and turns away from her fish. At this point, I'm really pissed off. She's not Top Chef material at all. Even her beloved Hosea turns on her, "She gave a really poor first impression to Chef Ripert," he says in disdain.

And of course, the two of the chefs that I like least, Hosea and Stefan, go onto the next round while I-Give-Up-Leah and Fabio are cut. Over the course of the past couple of weeks, Hosea has clearly tried to start a rivalry with Stefan, feeling that he's not only cocky but the biggest impediment to winning the title of Top Chef. Stefan, in total a-hole fashion, doesn't even notice Hosea and continues his winning ways by beautifully slaughtering his eel in the third round of this Quickfire while Hosea can only flounder, copying everything that Stefan does (because he has no idea how to filet an eel) and making a general fool of himself in front of everyone.

"Obviously, I've never done this before," Hosea says to Chef Eric Ripert before Stefan is declared the winner of the Quickfire Challenge. Yeah, you've never fileted an eel before and yet you work in a seafood restaurant. Good going.




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So Stefan wins but he doesn't get immunity, rather, he gets "a significant advantage" in the Elimination Challenge, which won't be revealed yet. Instead, the chefs are invited to lunch at Eric's super-famous seafood restaurant in NYC. Everyone is excited and dresses up for the occasion.

As they sit down for a special six-course lunch, marveling at the flavors and textures inherent in Eric's food, I shake my head in disbelief. Have these chefs never watched this show before? Do they not know what's coming? Surely they realize that when the Season 2 finalist sat down for an authentic Hawaiian dinner they were expected to recreate the flavors the next day in their Elimination Challenge. They must remember when the Season 3 chefs had to sample a classic dish from a super-famous restaurant and re-create it as their Quickfire Challenge. They must realize by now that there are six chefs and six dishes in the menu and they will be expected to recreate one of them. Right? Right?

Nope. They are all surprised when the knife block comes out. They will each draw knives to find out which dish they'll be re-creating - though Stefan, as the winner, gets to choose his dish. He chooses a lobster dish and Hosea turns up his nose at this decision. "It's probably the easiest dish of the six. At this point in the competition, you either play big or go home," he says. Yeah, as if you wouldn't have chosen the easiest dish if you were in his place.


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