On last night's Top Chef, we got Martha Stewart, Natasha Richardson, the Harlem Gospel Choir, and dishes inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas. It was dizzying (these one hour and 15 minute episodes are a little long, no?). And then they livened up some very boring food with a surprise ending...
Note: We reveal the winner and loser below.
This episode was all about Christmas. In the quickfire challenge, the chefs had to prepare a seasonal one-pot meal for Martha Stewart. Then, for the elimination challenge, they catered the amfAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research), creating dishes based on one of the 12 days of Christmas ("three French hens" and so on...) Here are our thoughts:
1. Martha should have been the guest judge for the entire episode. We're pretty sure Martha could have scored a ticket to the amfAR benefit. And then we could have heard more comments like this one, on scallops being a winter ingredient: "Those are January! Up in Maine? We go diving for those." Martha diving for scallops—as if she's just pouring a cup of coffee. That's why we love her.
2. "One-pot meal" does not equal washing the pot and starting again. We were expecting lots of stews, and instead we got chefs searing meat, then washing the pot, then making another dish. A few people stuck with the idea of building layers of ingredients and flavors, but Ariane should not have won for her steak and puréed cauliflower. Our vote was for Jamie's kale and potato stew with scallops (below).
3. We're seeing The Ariane Effect on this show. She keeps winning for, let's face it, cooking meat really well and sticking to simple comfort food. So the judges should not be surprised when the other chefs start making chicken pot pie and every incarnation of risotto and polenta under the sun. We're sure Ariane's food tastes good; otherwise, Martha Stewart wouldn't have been impressed. But if the judges want a wow factor, stop rewarding cauliflower purée.
4. No "Four Calling Birds"? Weird. If they needed to leave out one, why didn't they eliminate "Ten Lords-a-Leaping"? Yes, Jeff was spot on with frog legs, but when Whole Foods didn't have any, he was really up a creek...
5. We may have shed a tear. Well, almost. It was really sweet to see all the chefs pitch in to help Hosea and Radhika when their food spoiled. Hooray for the holiday spirit. And then Hosea ended up winning for his pork loin.
6. No more scallops! Jamie's room-temp, raw scallops sounded downright awful. She also did scallops for her quickfire dish, and if next week's preview is any indication, she cooks them again.
7. Gene should have gone home. In fact, no one went home in this episode. In an act of Christmas charity, Tom spared all the chefs but gave them a stern lecture on how mediocre their food has been. Which means the next episode should be great. But back to Gene: We didn't even remotely understand his dish. Look at it (below). Would you want to eat that?
We could go on and on. A lot happened last night (Melissa: how can you mess up beef with gorgonzola? And Michelle Bernstein was grumpy, grumpy- no fun to watch). But we'll leave it there and get your thoughts. What did you think of last night's episode?
Related:
Episode 1: Ethnic Foods Galore
Episode 2: Hot Dogs and Angry Chefs
Episode 4: Lights, Camera, Kathie Lee Gifford
Episode 5: Make Your Own Sushi at a Bridal Shower?
(Images: Bravo)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Weird--I tried to post a longer comment, but I got a msg saying no more comments were being accepted from my IP address.
In short: I wonder if they're cutting two contestants next week.
view OneWallKitchen's profile
One pot meal...paella is a perfect one pot meal. It was true to the challenge, everyone agreed that it tasted great and it lost? One pot meal! If you can cook it in a crock pot, it's a one pot meal. Most people don't sear or grill in a pot. Goofy.
Best line:
"this is a Top Chef, this is a not a Top Scallop."
view art's profile
A couple of thoughts:
- This was the turning point for the season for me. I've been pretty disapointed with the cooking and now Tom is to.
- You knew none of the judges were impressed when Tom's only comment on Hosea's pork was "it was well cooked."
- Eugene, Melissa and Carla have to go.
Has anyone looked at Michelle Bernstein's book yet? I was really excited for it but a bit let down looking at her recipes. Very upscale. I was hoping that she would have more "Latin-Jewish" type cooking.
view cweingarten's profile
Agreed about Ariane! I was *really* surprised she won the quickfire because at first I thought she wasn't following the rules of the challenge. I'm guessing she's not only spot on with cooking meat, but with seasoning as well.
And Jamie- I liked her at first- but her arrogance and air of superiority has turned me off. And I get the impression she has a really limited vocabulary, culinarily speaking.
view spotonmeg's profile
Thank you!
During the entire quickfire I kept yelling at the TV: "one-pot meal doesn't mean washing and re-using one pot!"
I can't believe the judges let them get away with that.
view hyperRevue's profile
I definitely agree with your point #1 - whyyyyyy oh why did we only get Martha for the first ten minutes?! She would have been such a fantastic judge, and would've offered more insight that Natasha Richardson and her heaving bosom. Heh.
I was surprised that Eugene wasn't axed, but he can't be too far off. And neither can Melissa ... Leah hasn't been doing so well either. And we all know they aren't going to get rid of Fabio anytime soon. He is just too funny. I just hope the chefs can get more CREATIVE and wow the judges and tv audience alike.
view birdie_dc's profile
Oh yeah, I can't wait til next week--this new judge seems like a real ball-buster.
view art's profile
I totally agree about the fact that Ariane should not have won for that dish and that Martha should have stayed for the whole episode. She was a guest for a challenge on The Next Food Network Star last season and she was there the whole time. Bummer.
view sundancemoods's profile
They definitely should have kept Martha for the whole show. She is so great and obviously cracks everyone up. Michelle Berstein was a total grouch! She added nothing to the show.
view o2cgirl's profile
The fridge thing seemed staged.
Also, wasn't this filmed like not at Christmas? Same with the Thanksgiving episode. Must have been weird acting like those holidays were actually happening.
I agree, the foods been somewhat disappointing. But if you keep doing catering challenges combined with severe time limits, then that's what's going to happen. There's no way to get around that. I can understand making them work under pressure, but food doesn't just appear in a flash.
view wunami's profile
your comments are so right - why no 4th day of Christmas, why was Michelle Bernstein so grouchy, and, for Pete's sake, why would they not send Eugene home after yet another train wreck?
view Heidz's profile
I am really sick of Jaime thinking she deserves to win over Ariane and then being a poor loser on top of it. Ariane is awesome! I would eat all of her food. Jaime on the other hand needs to practice a little humility. Top Chef is not about taking a risk, but producing terrible or bland tasting food. It's about making the best all around dish.
view mamaspank's profile