Top Chef California Recap

By Jason Lee

January 25, 2016

He'll always have Last Chance Kitchen.

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For most of the cheftestants, the trip down memory lane is a fond one. Marjorie thinks about when she graduated from culinary school and met Mike Isabella, Jeremy reminisces about helping his mom (an adoptee) find her birth parent, Isaac remembers cooking big pots of gumbo for Cajuns displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and Carl thinks about the time he walked into Craigie on Main in Cambridge (a fantastic restaurant if I do say so myself) and convinced the owner to let him have a job.

For other chefs, however, it’s a distinctly bittersweet affair. Kwame, for example, was dealing with significant strain coming into his relationship with his father - a fracture that has yet to repair itself. In fact, he hasn’t spoken with his father in eight years. Similarly, Jason can’t help but think about when he took on his first management position 10 years ago and was a ferociously perfectionist boss. Apparently, there was a lot of yelling at his subordinates.

While the cheftestants cook away, Tom and ultimate badass chef, Michael Voltaggio (winner of Top Chef: Las Vegas) walk into the kitchen. They approach Philip, who’s making a ceviche inspired by the dish his then-girlfriend’s grandmother taught him. “What have you learned since then?” Michael wants to know.




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“I initially thought I’d come in and cook my food,” he says, “but I’ve learned that I have to cook the food that makes the judges happy.” Tom gives him a pointedly perplexed look and Marjorie opines to us that sometimes Philip needs to just shut up. I agree.

“Learning the judges’ palates and navigating that, that’s what I’ve learned the most,” Philip continues. Michael responds that when he won his season, he just focused on cooking good food, and Tom backs that up, saying that the judges are simply looking for good dishes.

Unsurprisingly, this is all lost on Philip. Maybe his man-bun is tied a little too tightly.

Tom and Michael wander over to Amar and pick his brain about his dish. Amar notes that 10 years ago, he was cooking for Chef Gerry Hayden, who passed away in September of last year after battling ALS for some time. Amar wants to show that he still remembers this dish - a dish that Chef Hayden made sure all his sous chefs knew how to cook - which will hopefully signify how much he appreciates everything that Chef Hayden did for him. Tom and Amar both share a few memories of Chef Hayden. It’s clearly a very emotional moment for both of them.

Meanwhile, Kwame is still dealing with his personal demons. He’s put together a dish inspired by the jerk chicken shack where he and his father used to eat, but the experience is dredging up a number of unpleasant memories as well - memories that appear to be hindering his cooking process. Using a mandolin while a bit lost in thought, Kwame slices his thumb badly.


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