Top Chef Recap

By Jason Lee

February 12, 2009

This is what passes for a smile for Leah.

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Head judge Tom enters the kitchen. This is the point at which he typically goes around to each chef and gets an idea of what they're doing. Not this time. "Please, I don't want to be embarrassed," he says and leaves. Oh boy, it really says something about the diners if Tom's only advice is to not embarrass him and themselves in front of this crowd.

Leah goes first with her eggs benedict and the reactions are mixed. Wylie doesn't like the salad, saying that if this were his last meal, he wouldn't want to be bothered with it. Jacques, super legendary chef and the person that will be serving as guest judge at Judges Table, criticizes the sauce for being too thin. Tom doesn't like that the egg whites are so runny. Other than that, the dish is pretty good.

Stefan is supremely confident about his dish, saying that he could have cooked it in his sleep and that there's no way that he could have messed it up because he cooks this type of food all the time. Well, he's wrong. "His salmon is horribly overcooked and less successful than [Leah's] dish," says Wylie. "In my restaurant, this would have gotten sent back," says queen of Italian cooking, Lydia. Wow, I'm thinking that Stefan could be going home.

Hosea is feeling the pressure but turns out a shrimp "scampi" and a tomato provencal. Marcus says he did a fine job but Jacques strongly criticizes the tomato for not being rustic enough. Lydia doesn't like the color, Susan wanted more garlic and Tom says that they have to either compare the dish to their expectations for a scampi or decided if Hosea did a good job with what he was trying to accomplish with a variation of a scampi. Seems mixed but still better than Stefan.




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Fabio's dish is a huge hit. Wylie loves the chicken and says that this is the first dish where someone actually channeled a great chef, though he also compares the salad to "something you'd get on an airplane." Marcus says that this is the first dish that could have been served in one of their restaurants and Lydia, who'd requested this dish, says that it's exactly the way she was hoping the dish would be.

Lastly, we have Carla, who's freaking out that she's overcooked her squab. Oh boy. I'm really nervous now. But looks like I have nothing to worry about as Lydia takes one bite and proclaims herself to be a squab-convert. She also compliments the peas. Marcus notices that the squab is overcooked but Jacques says that it tastes perfect. Tom praises Carla's audacity to bring such a simple but perfect dish to the table.

"I think I could die happy with this," says Jacques, who'd requested this dish. YES!!!! Okay, at this point, I'm thrilled. I think that Carla's won the challenge and that Stefan is going home. I could not have asked for a better outcome.

Back at Judges Table, all of the chefs are called out. Leah needed to cook her eggs longer and really went wrong with the Hollandaise sauce. "I think you thinned out the flavor," says Padma. Hosea had excellent shrimp but Jacques takes big issue with his tomato.


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