Top Chef Las Vegas Recap

By Jason Lee

November 17, 2009

Good riddance!

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Kevin serves a wild Alaskan sockeye salmon with Napa cabbage and cucumber. There's also a tomato broth at the bottom that's supposed to act as a palate cleanser. Toby loves the spices plus the mint. Tom finds the tomato water stunning.

Michael makes a boneless chicken wing with confit curry and a bleu cheese disc – this is a play on buffalo wings, a favorite of NY firemen. Nigella loves the crisp skin, Padma loves the cold dressing, but Toby isn't a fan of the cold disc of bleu cheese.

Robin has her panna cotta, and as she describes the dish, she fearlessly shows them the shards of sugar that failed to come out right and will not be served on their desserts. Nigella likes the smell of the panna cotta but says that Robin overused gelatin, causing it to be too firm. Toby says the syrup tastes like what you'd get from a slushy. Padma likes the inspiration of the dish.

Eli serves the most disgusting-sounding dish I've heard to date on from this season. It is a caramel apple, peanut soup with popcorn and raspberry froth. The pink froth, you see, is supposed to represent the red bigtop tent for any circus...except that it doesn't cover the dish, it's underneath most of the food. Padma doesn't like the dish at all, and Toby says that Eli gambled and lost.

Bryan, lastly, has an escabeche (Spain-poached fish) with a bouillabaisse sauce, pine nuts, and garlic chips. Nigella says that it has fantastic balance, Tom likes the sauce, and Toby says that it tastes like a really professional dish.




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So the dinner is over and it's obvious who's on top (Kevin, Bryan and Michael) and who's on the bottom (Eli, Robin and Jenn). There's very little suspense here.

Indeed, Padma calls out Kevin, Bryan, and Michael. Kevin is complimented by Tom on the texture of his salmon and use of compressed vegetables, which kept them bright and flavorful. For Michael, Toby thought that his dish was perfectly expressive of the type of cooking that he does – delicate and sometimes effeminate (is that a compliment in England, Toby?). Nigella loved Bryan's dish, saying that it was beautiful, elegant and quiet. I'm thinking that Michael wins, simply because he embodied his casino and the spirit of New York in the best way. Bryan evoked Mandalay Bay in the most boring way by doing a seafood dish, while Kevin just did a tropical dish for the Mirage.

And yes, Michael wins. He deserves it.

The three bottom chefs come out. Padma asks Jennifer if she's surprised to be here and Jennifer responds by saying, "No. I didn't have a clear vision for dish and I think that translated. It was a little boring." Oh, Jennifer. Tom says that she lacked knowledge of medieval cooking and should have more heavily spiced the meat. Nigella said it wasn't tender enough and Toby says that it needed more sauce.


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