Since I last left you, Top Chef has gotten a new judge, British food critic Toby Young and has lost Arian, Eugene and Melissa. Tonight is everyone’s favorite episode…RESTAURANT WARS. Stephen Star is introduced at the quick fire challenge as the guest judge. He owns Budakhan and a few other successful restaurants. The quick fire challenge is a “tasting” challenge. Stephen will pick the top two chefs who will be the executive chefs in their “restaurants” for the elimination challenge. The chefs are given 30 minutes to prepare their signature dish. Carla’s cuisine of choice is rustic American, she made a cod seared in tomato oil with Italian salsa and a mache green salad. Stephen felt it lacked salt. Hosea would like to open a seafood restaurant, he prepared shrimp with morel mushroom, cream sauce, garlic potato puree and poached asparagus. Stephen said it was “very good”. Leah prepared a tempura poussin with dashi, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and sautéed mushrooms, it was Philippine inspired. Stephen said it was “tasty”. Stefan called his cuisine Euro-American, and he fried white asparagus with trout, an asparagus salad and white asparagus soup. Stephen said everything was very good. Jeff grilled salmon with sunchoke and artichoke puree, grilled corn and asparagus salad. Stephen said it was mushy, that’s not good! Radhika, of course was inspired by Indian cuisine, she pan seared a cob over butter braised corn, spinach and chorizo with cream sauce. I think I would like to eat this dish the best. The cod looked perfectly seared and cooked. Radhika is growing on me, but I’m not sure she’s assertive and creative enough to be top chef. I will say she is talented and cooks consistently well. Stephen liked her dish and said it was well seasoned. Jamie’s dish looked really good too. She made Chilean sea bass with creamed corn, bacon, peas and garlic scape. This is something I am going to have to try at home ASAP. Stephen said it was refreshing and good. Fabio was pretty ambitious with his Mediterranean lunch menu. He made a tuna and swordfish carpaccio, roasted vegetable salad and a filet mignon sandwich. Stephen said it was a little too salty. Fabio was offended that Chef Star referred to his filet mignon sandwich as a cheese steak sandwich. Stephen picked Jeff and Fabio as the bottom two. The two chefs that were chosen to be the executive chefs are Radhika and Leah.
Radhika chooses Jeff, Jamie and Carla. Leah picked Stefan, Hosea and Fabio. I think Leah’s team is the stronger team, but anything can happen during restaurant wars! The teams are given $5,000 to spend at Pier One to decorate their restaurant. Then, they go back to their apartment to plan their menus. Leah is having trouble taking control, even though she is the team leader. Stefan is pushing her around. Radhika is giving too much control to Jamie, she is supposed to be the leader, so if she sits back and let’s her team take over, she will be on the chopping block if their team loses.
After the teams are done planning their menu, Hosea and Leah get a little too comfortable on the couch. They end up kissing, even though both of them are supposed to be in committed relationships at home. Who’s excited for the reunion show now??? MEEEEE!!!!!
The next day, Hosea regrets the kiss and Leah feels weird about it. The tension is upsetting the other two team members. Radhika and Carla go to whole foods for the team and Jamie and Jeff go to the restaurant depot. Stefan and Hosea go to Whole Foods, while Fabio and Leah go to restaurant depot. After shopping, the chefs begin to set up their restaurants and prep and cook their food. Leah’s restaurant will be called SUNSET LOUNGE. They will serve an egg roll, sashimi two ways, short ribs, coconut curry bisque, seared cod, chocolate parfait and a panna cotta. I think it sounds awesome. They have Fabio at the front of the house, which I think is a smart move since he is personable and outgoing. Radhika’s restaurant will be called SAHANA. They will be serving a curried carrot soup, grilled scallop with a chickpea cake, braised lamb shank, seared snapper, baklava, chocolate cake and frozen yogurts. This menu also sounds really great. I can’t decide which one I’d rather eat at. Three desserts is really ambitious. Radhika has chosen to be at the front of the house.
Hosea and Leah’s minds are both elsewhere and it’s really tense in the kitchen. They are both feeling really guilty about cheating on their significant others (which they should). Leah picked a cod with a lot of bones, which is going to shred the fish and might ruin the dish. Carla’s frozen yogurts keep falling and she is nervous that she will be sent home because of it. Stefan is also having trouble with his dessert. His panna cotta won’t freeze and set.
It’s time for service. I wonder how these random people get chosen to taste the food. I would love that opportunity. Jamie is upset with the waiters. She feels they aren’t paying attention to detail and that food isn’t being brought out. Sahana serves naan bread, which is really good traditional Indian flatbread. The judges go to Sahana first. The judges like the carrot soup, scallops and chickpea cake. The lamb looks gorgeous and I like cinnamon on meat. The judges liked it a lot. They didn’t love the snapper, they felt the tomato water added too much liquid to the plate. I agree. I had watery fish!! The desserts didn’t really turn out right. Carla might be going home if they are the losers. I think I would like the fig frozen yogurt. They forgot to give Tom a spoon. One of the guests said that the yogurts tasted like lotion. Uh-Oh that can’t be good. Radhika’s restaurant had a wait. She wasn’t prepared for the amount of people that came to her restaurant. Guests commented that she wasn’t friendly and really flustered. Tom said was disappointed she was in the kitchen so much. He made a point for them to leave to prove that she wouldn’t even be able to say goodbye to them because she was never on the floor. It’s a good thing their food was good. Fabio is charming at the other restaurant. He is outgoing and attentive to the guests. The judges felt he was warm and fabulous. This restaurant served an amuse bouch; the eggroll. It was really cute!! Unfortunately, Tom didn’t think it was a good eggroll. They thought the soup was just okay, and that the sashimi needed salt. The short ribs look excellent and the judges think it’s good and well cooked. The cod was under cooked and the sauce was too sour and salty. Sunset’s desserts looked really good, and the judges were pleased. The chocolate looked awesome; I wish I could be eating it right now. They made a mint, mango and chocolate lollipop to refresh the palate after the meal. The judges are pleased with Stefan, so I think he is safe.
The judges like Sahana’s food better overall, but had a better experience at Sunset and the desserts were much, much better.
The Sunset Lounge team is called to the judges table first. They are the winners because of Fabio’s service and Stefan’s desserts. Leah is told her cod is the worst dish of the evening and would be going home had they not won. Stefan is announced the winner. He has won a suite of GE appliances. What a great prize!! This means that Radhika’s team is the losing team. Radhika didn’t actually make any dishes. I think this team lost because of Radhika and desserts (Carla). It is between the two of them for sure. Carla admits to not being happy to what she put out. I think Carla might be a little crazy. She said she was sending out love with her dessert to make it more delicious. Jamie defends her and the failing freezers. Tom is disappointed that Radhika didn’t take charge of Carla and tell her to change her idea. She admits to not being a leader and put everyone on the same level. Radhika didn’t follow through or pay attention to detail. Radhika is asked to pack her knives and go. And then there were seven…. Until next week....
1 comment:
have you ever cooked with quinoa? if so, i'd love to see a blog post with a recipe!
Post a Comment