Top Chef: All-Stars Recap

By Jason Lee

January 17, 2011

They're breezy.

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Your four teams are: (all the names were made up by me, by the way)

* The Girls: Tiffani, Jamie and Antonia
* The Guys: Richard, Marcel and Fabio
* Home-Cooking: Carla, Tre and Dale
* The Group-That-Didn’t-Get-Much-Airtime: Angelo, Tiffany and Mike

Not surprisingly, most of the teams have trouble at first catching fish (though Dale gets one right away). But soon enough, The Girls and Home Cooking are scooping up fish after fish, and The Guys and The-Group-That-Didn’t-Get-Much-Airtime (TGTDGMA) are forced to stew in jealousy as their lines keep coming up empty. Finally, fortune smiles on them as well and they get some bites.

The highlights of the fishing expedition are:

* Richard and Fabio trying to help Marcel reel in his fish by kneeling in his lap and holding onto Marcel’s rod (his fishing rod, that is)
* Dale hauling in a HUGE bass. Seriously, it’s enormous. Dale comments that not only is his fish the same size as Marcel, they have the same anatomical structure. “Big head, little body,” he says.

Upon returning to land, Antonia says that she never understood the allure of fishing until today. Dale mentions that he will never ever forget this experience. Meanwhile, I’m wondering whether the chefs smell overly fishy right now.

Well, if they do, the whole farmer’s market is about to get a whiff of the All-Stars. The cheftestants have 30 minutes and $150 to get all of the produce they need to cook up their delicious catch. While walking around the market, it’s clear to everyone that a bromance is blooming between Richard and Fabio.




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The editing makes it a little unclear as to what happens next. It seems like the chefs are able to go home for a bit, but then they’re brought to Water Taxi beach to cook up their fare. Based on the sun’s position, it looks to be late afternoon, but I can’t be sure.

Anyhow, the chefs get to cooking, and everyone is treated to a long sequence of Jamie’s complaining. There’s sand in her shoes, she’s tired, it’s too hot, her cucumber is dripping all over her... I really liked Jamie during Season 5, but she’s been grating on my nerves as an All-Star.

Service is rapidly approaching, and Richard starts to (there’s no other way to put it) seriously freak out. He begins ordering Fabio around, telling him to do this or that, reminding him to hurry, and emphasizing that “there’s not much time left!” Even Mike Isabella notices the harried way in which Fabio is being directed.

“Dude, shut up!” Fabio complains to the camera afterward. “It won’t get faster if you keep asking...I love [Richard] to death but this guy is gonna get a knife attack.”

Meanwhile, Richard is still in hyper-worry-mode -- and he acknowledges it. He’s stressed that the team decided to only do one dish. He doesn’t think the succotash is succotash-y. He also finds it overcooked. Oh boy.


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