Top Chef: Texas Recap

By David Mumpower

December 14, 2011

She's a sad panda.

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Day two of the meal preparation features the level of tension expected of such a prestigious event. Heather and Beverly take this opportunity to re-kindle yesterday’s bickering. Heather is growing bossier by the minute, perhaps hoping that her size advantage (she is between two and three times as large as the smaller woman) will intimidate Beverly into falling in line. For her part, Beverly demonstrates an ability to answer honestly all of Heather’s inquiries while doing nothing to handle any of the tasks under discussion. It’s impressive, really. Others in the kitchen grow uncomfortable with the heated exchanges. Dakota reveals in a camera monologue that she considers Heather to be an obnoxious bully, “the first person I would boot from the island”.

What do you think a Cattle Baron does all day?

The event starts off exceedingly well for all of the contestants including Ty, grillmaster extraordinaire. The gazpacho made by Beverly, Dakota and Sarah feels like the dish Lisa Simpson recommends as a vegetarian alternative to all the carnivorous behavior planned for later. Tom describes it as properly seasoned with nice shrimp (Beverly’s obsession this round), but he reiterates his constant complaint in the early rounds of this season. All of the chefs seem to be playing it safe, making dishes good enough to avoid elimination but not daring enough to identify themselves as strong contenders. This is exactly the same issue that is proving problematic when I do the power rankings. No one has distinguished themselves (in a positive way) enough to distance themselves the way that Richard, Stephanie, the Voltaggios, or Stefan managed in their seasons.

The second course looks delicious, which has become par for the course for Edward. His teammates Moto Chris and Paul have blended well and created a dish that is quite popular with the crowd. Unfortunately, as they start to plate this dish, Lindsay makes a mistake that proves fatal to the event as a whole. She pushes the others in the back of the kitchen to begin to flash the ribeyes for the third course. It is too soon to do this, with several chefs clearly aware of that fact.




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The problem is that once she gets started, there is no going back. The end result is that the chefs are now finishing steaks for the third course before the Cattle Barons have finished the second course. This is a nightmare for everyone but the scapegoat for all of this is Ty, who is ultimately responsible for meat that he is not cooking. The grilling is done outside but the flashing is done in the kitchen. There are four people involved with the third course, Nyesha, Ty, Whitney and Chris C. All of them are in a world of hurt right now due to how poorly the steak has been cooked. Four-stitched, sleep-drived Ty is at this moment the short man on the totem pole.

Surprisingly, Whitney absorbs the brunt of the judges’ ire for her dish. The gratin is not cooked enough, something Tom states instantly and others quickly agree with. Padma vehemently states that if Whitney is going to choose to do the gratin, she better do the best one ever. This has clearly not happened. For that matter, the only person who comes out well in this course is Nyesha, whose sauce and butter enhancements are praised. The vibe is that every other element of this particular plate is a disaster.

The dessert round is created by Heather, Grayson and Lindsay. Why Lindsay was so heavily involved in the steaks is a mystery in this regard. Anyway, the judges looooove Heather’s dish (again) although Hugh thinks it is a bit lacking in sugar in the cream. Grayson and Lindsay’s desserts are barely discussed. Tom once again expresses his frustration with the overall evening of food. One of the Cattle Barons sardonically declares that at least the dessert is a winner, which summarizes how poorly this has gone.


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