Top Chef: Seattle Recap
By David Mumpower
December 26, 2012
The top tier of the Quickfire challenge includes Sheldon, Josie, Kristen, Bart, Stefan and Danyele. Stephanie Izard is apparently a fan of Participation Trophies. Still, this is great news for Danyele, Bart and Josie, all of whom have failed to get untracked thus far. The winner is relatively obvious. Kristen unveiled ingredients including almond and chocolate. She boldly determined to create a cake despite the fact that she did not have a cake pan. Her creation, an almond and chocolate sponge cake, is one of the most dazzling demonstrations of culinary skill in ten seasons of Top Chef. Kristen is a star in the making. She is also immune from elimination this episode, not that she has been in any danger of this so far during Top Chef: Seattle.
The Elimination Challenge is a duel at a food festival. The people at the festival will vote for the winning dishes as the remaining ten contestants face off in head to head battle. The winner finishes in the top group while the loser has a 20% chance of being eliminated. So, populist food is more important to finishing on top in this round.
If you are doing a mental head count and getting to 11, you are correct. As the winner of the Quickfire challenge, Kristen does not have an opponent; she is still creating a dish, though. I presume that she cannot finish in the bottom group and even if she does, she clearly cannot be eliminated. She can, however, win once again if her dish is good enough. Kristen is in the catbird seat.
The heads up matches are determined as follows. The chefs in the top group of the Quickfire challenge select their opponents. Sheldon chooses first and he decides to battle Micah. In most instances, this would mean that Micah is perceived to be a weak competitor. Sheldon is not playing the game that way, though. He just wants to match wits with his younger opponent.
Danyele chooses to face Joshua in another Texas/Oklahoma battle (Joshua having previously faced off against John Tesar, also a Texan). Assuming this is not simply luck of the draw, the ordering would indicate that Danyele finished third in the Quickfire, a refreshing performance for her. We will see if she can sustain momentum. A one on one challenge could stoke her competitor fires and get her head back in the game.
Stefan has many personal failings – I gleefully enumerate them with each recap – but he does want to be the best. In order to prove himself yet again, he targets John Tesar as his opponent. On paper, this is easily the strongest matchup of the quintet.
Meanwhile, the March Madness aspect comes into play with the next two choices. The only remaining players on the bottom are Lizzie and Brooke while the competitors with the “honor” of choosing their opponents are Josie and Bart. Lizzie and Brooke can beat either one of them, so the only question is who Josie believes is slightly less intimidating. She correctly picks Lizzie, who did not win two out of the last three challenges. Of course, Lizzie will still crush Josie so it’s the Ogre’s Choice. This leaves Bart with Brooke. I will go ahead and write down a loss in his column, too.
Preparations are brutal. With so many different meals being prepared, the chefs square off at the market. They fight for the best proteins. Stefan watches Sheldon purchase the last of the fresh tuna. He is left with only one choice; The Thumb purchases packaged frozen tuna instead. Ordinarily, chefs get eliminated for these sorts of choices.
The location of the challenge is Remlinger Farms. The players quickly realize that their designated cooking area was not intended for the preparation of 11 simultaneous meals. Tempers flare early and often. Joshua splatters some blender concoction on himself and – more importantly to John Tesar – John Tesar. The slowest runner, Danyele, has to beg and please for work space because all of it has already been claimed.
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