Top Chef: Seattle Recap

By David Mumpower

February 12, 2013

Her accent is totally turning him on.

New at BOP:
Share & Save
Digg Button  
Print this column
The dish is also too smoky while Hugh Acheson echoes the thought that had been on the tip of my mind. He correctly points out that the dish looks like baby food. Worst of all for Sheldon, the locals give him grief for using chum salmon, something we later learn is ordinarily reserved for dogs. Yikes! Did I say that I liked Sheldon’s chances but not Brooke’s? I had this one exactly backwards.

The aesthetically pleasing plate of the day belongs to Josh. He presents a roasted garlic sourdough soup with sockeye salmon & black olive croutons. I like absolutely none of these ingredients yet I want to try this dish. The judges generally praise the dish, albeit in measured fashion. The garlic soup is by all accounts tasty. The issue is that this is a bread and salmon dish. The former flavor overpowers the latter, which is problematic, particularly to Tom. I don’t think Josh is in trouble but with so few contestants, blowing 50% of the challenge could be enough to send him home.

Lizzie presents the silliest dish of the challenge. She offers a citrus & beet glazed salmon slider with poppy seed butter & pickles. Yes, it is a slider. My initial reaction is that this is not a bold enough attempt for Top Chef but I have such a bad track record on such assumptions. Hugh loooooooves the bread, stating that hers is the best in the challenge. Lizzie had absolutely no experience in bread-making, so this is a mild upset.

Alas, the rest of the comments are decidedly negative. The citrus and beet flavors are lacking in the dish. Tom immediately presents a scenario that would have elegantly solved the issue. If only he had mentioned this to her in the kitchen… Sean “123 Quiet Mouse!” Brock mentions exactly my concern, that the plate of food is too safe. Emeril quickly agrees. I think that Lizzie is in trouble. In a situation such as this, however, any of three players could be sent home since nobody messed up like Stefan did last week.

Judges Table confirms this belief. All four players experience their fair share of compliments and criticisms. Lizzie suffers the worst fate. Tom presses her about the lack of seasoning on her dish. In debunking this accusation, Lizzie discusses tasting all of the components. Padma asks if she tasted the finished product. The South African is forced to acknowledge that she did not. She is lectured for this, and it is exactly the sort of issue that can persuade judges to eliminate a player.




Advertisement



Perhaps the strangest judging moment of the season occurs when Brooke confesses that she was in freak-out mode when it was time to plate her dish. Hugh candidly states that the judges noticed the panic on her face, and that it was a problem. Moments later, Brooke is chosen the winner of the Elimination Challenge, earning a trip to Costa Rica. I cannot recall another time this season that a winning contestant was dressed down like this.

The other three players are considered the bottom group. The first statement Padma articulates during the judges’ private conversation is that all of the dishes were good just as they were all flawed in some way. Each member of the triad is debated. The only one who is edited as in serious jeopardy is Lizzie. Her failure to taste her dish is a deal-breaker to a couple of them. Moments later, Lizzie is eliminated from Top Chef.

The news does not improve for Lizzie at Last Chance Kitchen. Kristen has set up shop in the House That CJ Built. Easily the best player who was voted out at some point this season, Kristen is faced with legitimate competition for only the second time. Since upending CJ, she has squared off against an inferior chef in Josie and an unmotivated one in Stefan. Both victories were all but assured. Lizzie is not that kind of an opponent yet Kristen emerges victorious once more. Lizzie is eliminated from Last Chance Kitchen and there does not appear to be a Save a Chef poll any longer, either. She is really gone.

Last Chance Kitchen has been odd this season. Only three players have been victorious in individual challenges. Kuniko won the first week. In the following episode, CJ and Tyler beat her then CJ defeated Tyler and Eliza in the next round. The gigantic chef won four more battles before Kristen accidentally wound up in the loser’s bracket. Since then, Kristen is four for four. Ostensibly, Last Chance Kitchen should be a coin flip each week yet CJ and Kristen have stood head and shoulders above the competition. Of course, at 6’10”, CJ is plenty used to that by now.


Continued:       1       2       3       4

     


 
 

Need to contact us? E-mail a Box Office Prophet.
Friday, March 29, 2024
© 2024 Box Office Prophets, a division of One Of Us, Inc.