Top Chef Recap

By David Mumpower

November 18, 2013

She cries more often than Sophie post-choice.

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The Green Team presents their courses starting with Stephanie’s fried baby artichoke, preserved lemon & anchovy aioli. Anchovy aioli has to be a euphemism, right? Nina serves gnocchi again, this time as a semolina gnocchetti with sausage. Carrie and Carlos present a dessert dish of summer tiramisu with nectarines, pistachios & cheese. It looks delicious to the point that I have to take a break to get a snack. The judges loooooove everything.

The judges confer on closed circuit television. They agree that tonight’s decision is difficult because the chefs have finally provided consistently delicious meals. Padma champions the Green Team’s artichokes while Tom unsurprisingly praises Nina’s gnocchi. She’s going to win again. Amusingly, Carrie reads the conversation the opposite of me when guest judge Sue states that the nectarine tiramisu “brings everything down.”

The Blue and the Gray groups sound like they both did well, only not as well as Team Nina. On the Blue Team, Shirley has overcooked the beef and Justin’s shrimp and grits are not homey enough for many. On the Gray Team, the dry rub on the fish was overused. Nicholas is rightfully worried that he may go home. A strange sequence occurs immediately afterward when this team is called back to Judges Tables. Their competitors applaud, which proves tacky within moments. The Gray Team has been chosen as the bottom group. One of them will be eliminated.




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During the conversation about the meals, what becomes clear is that the dryness of the fish was problematic. Also, Patty’s watermelon dish was unpopular. The judges did enjoy the fried chicken, which gives Nicholas some hope despite his problems with the fish. Patty is less fortunate. She debates how to improve the quality of her dish, noting that some peppercorns were dusted over the salad. Tom intuits that the dish needed some chili as warm balance to the cold. Patty smiles as her teammates acknowledge that the chili had been planned. Alas, Patty forgot to add it during plating so the fault is hers. She should not be laughing at what could be a fatal mistake. I don’t know what is going on in her head at that moment, but it comes across as immature. On the plus side, it’s refreshing that she is laughing rather than crying at a mistake.

Hold that thought. Moments later, the Green Team is informed that they are the winners. Patty sits down and begins to cry as Team Nina celebrates victory at Judges Table. You will never guess which player wins the prize this week. Really, you won’t. It’s Stephanie rather than Nina. This win marks Stephanie’s first on Top Chef. It is also the sixth win (plus the overall title last season) for former chefs of Stir Boston. I speculate that Stephanie and Kristen Kish’s mentor, Barbara Lynch, probably receives more resumes from chefs than anyone else in the country right now.

After the top team exits, the judges debate who should be sent to Last Chance Kitchen. Travis is considered due to dry rub abuse. Some of the judges loved the flavor of the ribs, though. That should be enough to save him. Similarly, Nicholas has ups and downs in that the judges loved his fried chicken but actively disliked his fish. Patty’s watermelon seems like the worst offender to Gail, and the consent of the others is confirmed soon afterward. Patty has struggled all season, and the player with the most finishes in the bottom group is finally eliminated after several narrow escapes. She seems like a great chef who simply was not a good fit with the high pressure nature of Top Chef, just like Bene last week.


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