Top Chef Races To The Win

The Emmy's have a new reality show champion. It's Top Chef, winning after four nominations and beating out Amazing Race in its quest to win an 8th consecutive Emmy.

Dan Cutforth, one of the founders of Magical Elves, which produces Top Chef, accepted the Emmy with great surprise. A whole troupe of people joined him onstage, including one poor person who tripped as she was running down the aisle. The good news? She was just getting out of range of the camera, so we only saw the beginning of the trip.

Padma was wearing one of her signature necklaces and looked striking. Tom was still bald and Gail had her hair tucked under in an interesting bun - good for the kitchen.

I would have liked Dan to have explained a few things, though:

How could they get rid of Dale so early

Why Hosea won

Why did they pick Michael over Bryan

And WHY did they vote Kenny off the island

But I did like that he made a point of thanking all the chefs, without whom, of course, there would be no show.

Top Chef DC – They Try To Make It Right But The Damage Has Been Done

Top Chef DC - Covert Cuisine

I’m a little peeved that there will be no Kenny this week, so they better wow me with this episode.

At the house, Angelo tells us that he’s mentally exhausted. In the Top Chef kitchen, Wylie is standing there with Padma. The Quickfire Challenge is to cook from a mystery box. All the boxes have identical ingredients and as they’re cooking, more mystery boxes will arrive and they have to use everything. The winner gets $10,000.

The ingredients start out as fish, fava beans and a can with no label, which turns out to be Hominy. Kevin thinks that Angelo looks really unsettled. Angelo tells us that he doesn’t have a vision for a dish.

The next ingredients (delivered by a sun-glassed man in a dark suit) are squid and black garlic. Kelly has never used black garlic before, so she’s concerned. Alex is his usual ninny self.

More ingredients arrive – ramps and passion fruit. Tiffany is funny. She says (to us) that she’s never used ramps and she doesn’t know if she’s supposed to use the leaf or the stem.

Angelo has lost his mojo. Cold or hot, he can’t decide how to serve his dish. MORE ingredients. Are you kidding me?, Amanda exclaims! It’s jicama. Padma comes into the kitchen (in not so great cargo Capri pants) and announces that they have 10 minutes left.

Here are the dishes. It IS interesting to see what they come up with identical ingredients. Alex says the first smart thing ever – “Alex; Quickfire - equals bottom. It’s a mathematical equation.”

Results – Alex is right for once. He’s on the bottom. Amanda is too. Her dish was oily.

Top dishes: Tiffany - Wylie liked the way she integrated all the ingredients and got so much flavor into her broth; and Kevin – His dish was nicely balanced.

And the winner is…my local boy? No, it’s Tiffany, but that’s okay, everyone is soooo happy for her. That makes her Top Chef take $20,000 so far.

The Elimination Challenge is “a case of national security”, Padma says. They’ll be cooking at the CIA. They’ll each get a classic dish, determined by a knife pull, and they have to create a new identity for it with its same original flavor.

They’ll be serving CIA officers and CIA Director Leon Panetta. Amanda tells us that she “could seduce some secrets out the KGB”. Cute or coy? I can’t decide.

Alex tells us he was a videographer and has only been a chef for 6 years. I think he should book some more Bar Mitzvahs.

Kelly has no idea what Kung Pao shrimp is, so when they go shopping, she looks for a prepared sauce so she can see the ingredients. That’s smart. And I think she is REALLY clever to turn her Kung Pao shrimp into a soup.

Angelo is changing Beef Wellington into a pizza, which I think is a really good idea. BUT he’s using FROZEN puff pastry. NEVER a good idea.

They ask each other what their spy names are. I didn’t know that was a thing. I thought only porn names were. I have the greatest one of all time. Gypsy Independence! C’mon, you can’t beat that, can you?

We listen to Alex blathering about how his spy name would be Dr. Zhivago. I don’t even want to think about what his Porn Name is. Then he says his favorite spy is Maximilian Smart. Not surprising.

They walk into the CIA and they’re really impressed by all the security and the solemnity of the place as they walk past the gallery of Directors’ portraits.

Ed is sure there are cameras and speakers hidden everywhere.

I like Kelly this week. I think she’s using her head. Oy, there’s a problem. She’s using a rice cooker and Tiffany tells her it turns off automatically and it doesn’t. Her rice is ruined and way overcooked. NOT that I’m blaming Tiffany (and neither is Kelly). Stuff happens. Tiffany encourages her to just make some more rice on the stove really fast. She doesn’t want a competitor to go out for a dumb mistake.

Angelo’s dish is first:

Beef Wellington

Tartlet Topped With Slivers Of Beef

He’s not happy with it and neither are the diners. They guess immediately what it is.

Leon says. “Poor disguise. They would have caught this individual and hung him.” There’s too much hilarity around the room. I find that rather ghoulish myself.

Leon thinks the dish is salty and the pastry is a little hard. His minions agree. (Don’t they have to?) Eric says. “Beef Wellington EES more challenging.

Kelly - Kung Pao Shrimp

Spicy Shrimp Broth With Rice & Szechuan Shrimp Tempura

Wylie tells Leon that he knows what the dish is and that for once he knows something Leon doesn’t know. Har har. Various CIA folks say it tastes like Pad Thai. Tom guesses it's Kung Pao shrimp and he likes it very much. (I like that he doesn't know what the original dishes are.) Wylie thinks Kelly's idea of turning the sauce into a broth is a good one; he just thinks there was too much. A CIA guy liked the texture of the nuts with the rice.

Tiffany - Gyro

Roasted Leg Of Lamb With Smoky Eggplant, Tomatoes And Pickled Onions

Leon guesses her dish. Eric says, “EET’S the most elegant gyro” he’s ever eaten. Another guy says he would order it anywhere.

Kevin - Cobb Salad

Romaine Lettuce, Tomato, Bacon, Roquefor, Avocado, Cucumber And Turkey

He definitely should have made a lettuce soup and had the other stuff as garnishes.

They all guess Cobb salad, except Leon, who thinks it’s a Mexican dish at first. Tom is a bit miffed because it’s a salad and Kevin hasn’t changed much. But Tom loves Cobb salad, so it looks like he might let it slide.

Padma asks Leon if they have a lot of formal dinners here. Then a steward comes and hands Leon a folded piece of paper. There are serious looks from all the diners as if the end of the free world (or at least dinner) is coming.

Leon excuses himself with, “Business calls.” Probably someone wanted to know if he wanted his usual car wash that week with the pine-scented air freshener or the piña colada one.

Eric looks particularly solemn. Padma wants to know if they’re used to Director Panetta having to dine and dash. Yes, they are.

Amanda, Alex’s only friend in the kitchen, says he just has a problem with execution. (Maybe his dish will get him executed. I didn’t mean that.)

Amanda - French Onion Soup

Consommé With Oxtail Marmalade, Caramelized Onions, Shaved Gruyere

Everyone could tell it was French onion soup and they all thought the marmalade was way too sweet.

Alex - Veal Parmesan

Veal And Parmesan Cheese Tortelloni With Tomato Sauce And Tempura Cheese

Tom looks at it and says OMG that can’t be good. Someone says it's lasagna. Tom says the veal is as tough as pulling a post in Yemen. It’s really poorly executed. Eric would have preferred to see less disguise and a better dish.

Ed - Chicken Cordon Bleu

Toasted Chicken Breast, Ham And Cheese Croquette, Spring Onion Soubise

I love onion soubise. Eric says it’s obvious that it’s a Cordon Bleu. They all like it, but Padma says it wasn’t disguised well. Padma tells the CIA peeps that they have to leave now to do a top secret deliberation of their own.

Angelo tells us it would be traumatic if he went home. Kelly wonders if Leon knows who killed JFK and if there are aliens. Angelo says he knows they are living in LA, pointing at Alex.

Let’s cut to the chase.

The top dishes are Kelly’s, Ed’s and Tiffany’s. Tiffany wins again. She wins a trip to Paris. That’s pretty great. She says she has a honeymoon now! Ed can’t be mad.

The losers

Alex, naturally, Amanda and Angelo

The A’s have it!

Tom asks them who is willing to admit that they’re the 7th best in the competition. Amanda exclaims she’s NOT. Back in the stew room, Angelo says he SHOULD go home. He is SO not going home.

But if Alex makes it ANOTHER week, I’ll push Bravo’s Andy Cohen myself!

And it’s…Alex, who is going home. That’s great, but I also feel as if it’s too little too late - a week too late, actually.

Kenny getting sent home and Alex still being there reminds me of when an underdog team or player unexpectedly beats an established team and you just know the next week the underdog is going to be beaten handily anyway and you think, well, what was the point of THAT? We got rid of the underdog eventually and so why did we have to sacrifice Kenny the week before? Does that make sense?

The point is that as great as it is that Alex has been eliminated, it would have felt a whole lot better if Kenny were still around. I’m glad Alex is gone, but it should have happened a week ago…at least. And IT COULD HAVE.

Aarti Is Lovely, Her Food Is Flavorful, But Let’s Have Just A Bit More Kitchen Hygiene And I Apologize In Advance For My Obsession With Madhur Jaffrey

Aarti Parti with Aarti Sequeira

My House

Sloppy Bombay Joes

Massaged Kale Salad

Creamy Pistachio Pops

Shouldn’t the name of the show it be Aarti’S party, instead of Aarti Party? Oh wait, I guess they’re doing a spin on Aarti’s delightful blog, Aarti Paarti and her You Tube videos.

The show opens with Aarti (I love her dress) sitting in what looks like a college dorm room. Aren’t those giant neon poppies on the wall from the flower power days of the 60’s? (The flowers on her bright yellow mug even match the wallpaper. That probably wasn’t necessary.)

Her recipes DO look interesting though.

Aarti starts with Indian Style Sloppy Joes. Her knife skills do NOT look up to scratch, but that could be because she doesn’t want to slice her finger off as she’s talking. Also, that’s a HUGE knife.

Oh my, the fake stairway in the background also has a coordinated version of the flowered wallpaper. I would rather have seen just a bit of some gorgeous Indian textiles. They wouldn’t have had to go overboard and be obvious, but Aarti IS showing us Indian-based recipes, so we could have done with a bit of beautiful bling from India.

Aarti chops her ginger and Serrano pepper with that overly large knife and it doesn’t look she she’s getting anything anywhere near fine enough.

Many of Madhur Jaffrey’s (my go-to authority for Indian food) recipes start by making a base of garlic, ginger and onions in the food processor! You want them superfine, because you don’t want to bite into a chunk of ginger or garlic. Also, curries don’t use thickeners like flour, so the puréed vegetables make a wonderful base to the dish and thicken the sauce.

Typically, Madhur will mince the garlic, ginger and onions in a food processor (or blender) using a few spoonfuls of water to loosen the mixture just a bit. That onion puree is sautéed in the pan after the meat is seared and the whole spices are cooked in oil for a sec. Then any liquid ingredients go in before the meat or poultry is returned to the pan and the whole thing is simmered for awhile.

Back to Aarti. She adds her garlic, ginger and Serrano chile pepper mixture to the pan. She says those three things make a triumvirate of Indian ingredients. I guess her onions go in later. I like them as a base to the whole operation.

Aarti tells us she’s using ground turkey. I really like that, because ground beef doesn’t exactly say India to me.

Aarti is excited to talk about spices. She displays them in a really attractive wooden spice holder, a Masala Dabba, which will be familiar to anyone from an Indian home. (Why couldn’t we have more of those touches?) She explains that garam masala is a mixture of many warm spices. I’m glad she does that. If we already know, we can feel superior and if we don’t, we’ve learned something.

She adds the garam masala to the pot.

Oy, I have another little “note” here. Madhur (don’t be annoyed at HER, she’s fantastic) normally adds garam masala at the end of cooking or sprinkles it on the finished dish. It’s interesting that Aarti adds it now.

Paprika goes in. I love that Aarti talks about “blooming” the spices. She says to cook them for 30 seconds only or they will burn. I always cook warm spices on low, low, low for 2 to 3 minutes to get their full benefit, while whole spices go into the hot oil for seconds (according to Madhur). Aarti adds water and tomatoes and cooks the Sloppy Joe mixture for 15 minutes, uncovered.

Aarti is making kulfi which I LOVE. Oh good! She is going to use both evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk.

She pours the evaporated milk into a pot and adds the leaves from a few Earl Grey tea bags and ground cardamom “because it’s easier”. I do not agree with THAT at all.

There are beautiful whole cardamom pods in her Masala Dabba. She should use them. Plus she has to strain the tea leaves out anyway, so why not use the whole cardamom pod? BTW, if you don’t like Earl Grey tea, just skip it and add 8 to 10 whole cardamom pods.

Aarti brings the evaporated milk mixture to a simmer and then turns off the heat to steep all the ingredients for 30 minutes. It’s interesting that Aarti calls the recipe Kulfi, while the website calls it Creamy Pistachio Pops. I really think we could handle the Indian name.

Aarti finishes up the Sloppy Joes. She adds oil to a pan and then pistachios and raisins. She wants to toast the nuts and plump the raisins. I have NEVER plumped raisins in oil. That’s kind of neat.

She removes the nuts and raisins, adds more oil to the pan and then throws in some cumin seeds. Oh, I DO love roasted or, in this case TOASTED, cumin seeds. Aarti adds chopped red pepper and onions and cooks them until slightly brown.

Back to the Kulfi, Aarti strains the mixture. Definitely, whole cardamom seeds could have been used. She stirs in chopped pistachios, a can of sweetened condensed milk and a cup of heavy cream. She pours the mixture into popsicle molds and puts them into the freezer.

For the Sloppy Joe filling, Aarti takes ground turkey out of the fridge and puts the package down on her big wooden cutting board. Not a good idea.

Next she uses that huge chef’s knife to open the package of ground turkey and puts the knife down on the cutting board. Also not a good idea.

THEN she lays the ground turkey package on the counter, next to the stove top and adds the turkey to the pan. She has now polluted TWO surfaces AND her knife.

I store meat and turkey in the plastic bag from the supermarket. When I’m ready to use it, I lay the package of meat on top of that plastic bag as I’m opening it. (Whatever knife I use to open the package goes immediately into the sink.) After I’ve added my meat or poultry to the pot, pan or bowl, I throw out all the packaging at once and wash my hands before going on to the next thing. That’s obvious, right?

Aarti seasons her onion and red pepper mixture and adds in the ground turkey.

Back from a commercial, we come back to Aarti showing us a bunch of kale on the cutting board. She shows us how to strip the leaves off the stem. Then she rolls up the kale and cuts it into ribbons.

I sure hope that knife was washed before cutting the kale and the cutting board was dealt with, but we don’t see that, so we don’t know for sure.

It would have been so easy to have a separate cutting board on top of the big one and deal with the turkey on that. The bottom of the turkey package is not reliably turkey-juice free.

Aarti adds her ribbons of kale to a big bowl. She rubs a lemon on the board (let’s hope it really is turkey free) and squeezes half of it into the kale and adds some olive oil and salt.

She starts ‘massaging” the kale to break down the fibers. Aarti says to do that for 2 minutes and it will start smelling like bananas. I’d like to try it just to see if that’s true.

Aarti washes her hands and chops a perfect looking mango, telling us in India it’s known as the food of the gods. She adds the mango to the kale with some toasted pumpkin seeds.

She whisks together a dressing from the rest of the lemon, a little honey (from a bear, ugh) and olive oil and tests it on a little piece of mango. Aarti says because the kale is so hearty you can leave it dressed in the fridge for days and it only gets better.

She adds the sauce to the ground turkey.

Aarti toasts the buns for the Sloppy Joes and adds half and half to the turkey mixture with honey and the raisins and pistachios. She puts one together with some salad on the plate. She tastes the salad. Yum.

Oh, that nice dress is actually a top.

Aarti gets the pops from the freezer and dunks them in hot water. She says not to worry about using popsicle molds, just use tea cups. That’s actually a better idea, because these popsicles are so HUGE. She sprinkles on some chopped pistachio nuts. Lovely looking.

It’s hard to believe that Aarti is already so polished. They did a great job of putting this show together. Aarti is charming and she was obviously told to laugh and smile freely. I like her. I like the recipes. I could do with fewer flowers on the walls and less cross-contamination, but this first episode of Aarti Party was a solid 7.999 out of ten. They definitely made the right choice.

And The Next Food Network Star Is...Hah! You Have To Read To The End

The Next Food Network Star - Iron Chefs and Finale

Is there a problem when the last couple of weeks of The Next Food Network Star were actually more entertaining than Top Chef?

Normally, I object to TNFNS because of its odd mix of not-really cooking, hasty media challenges by contestants (who seem ill-prepared for them) and surprisingly personal remarks by judges. “Grow up!” (or something to that effect) comes to mind.

The penultimate TNFNS was excellent, partially because I thought it would be hopeless. The final four were taken to Kitchen Stadium and they had to compete using secret ingredients in front of an all star Iron Chef panel – Morimoto, Cat Cora, Michael Symon, Bobby, of course, and Bob and Susie. While Herb and Aarti cooked, Aria and Tom had to do the on-the-floor reporting for Alton who fired questions at them.

Both Herb and Aarti have pleased the judges with their “culinary point of view”. Aarti, from the beginning, has wanted to make Indian food accessible to the American kitchen. And Herb has lately arrived at his healthier version of the Latin cooking that he grew up with. Both did just fine in the Iron Chef kitchen. Their secret ingredient was shrimp. The judges particularly loved Aarti’s food. All the dishes are here.

Tom, as a floor reporter, was very comfortable, chatting with Alton and getting the scoop on what was going on in the kitchen. He knew what he was talking about. Alton threw a few (REALLY BASIC) questions out and Tom did fine.

Aria was the other one doing commentary and she never took it seriously. She had no clue what was going on or that she was supposed to be finding out. AND Aria didn’t know what paprika was made from. That’s just sad.

Then the contestants traded roles and Aria and Tom cooked while Herb and Aarti did the talking. Aria and Tom got bacon as a secret ingredient. (The four of them did have things A LOT easier by having such easy-to-use secret ingredients.)

Aria basically blew her chance by giving up at the beginning and saying, “I’m making family style food and if they don’t like…TOO bad, that’s who I am.” She didn’t use the bacon at all inventively. She just threw it on the plate as an afterthought And none of her dishes came out particularly well.

For serving, Aria just put stuff in the middle of the table and the judges had to assemble their own dishes. I must say I’ve NEVER seen THAT on an Iron Chef challenge.

Herb was very appealing as a floor reporter. He had a lot of energy. Aarti was hopeless. She didn’t think she’d be good at speaking off the cuff and so she wasn’t. (I could talk my way out of a paper bag, but I’d still be planning my menu long after they dimmed the kitchen stadium lights.)

The judges predictably didn’t think much of Aria’s food. They felt the same way about Tom’s food, except he brought a tremendous energy and creativity to the challenge.

Tom was determined to wow them and to do something different. But there was a reason that no one had ever made what he made before. THEY WERE REALLY BAD IDEAS. He made a bacon cake. Think crab cake, but no crab, just bacon. Actually, a crab cake WITH bacon would have been fabulous, but this a dry mess of a thing.

Another dish he made would have been perfect for a bull mastiff. He took huge hunks of bacon and cooked them like individual steaks. They couldn’t be cut through and they certainly couldn’t be chewed. BUT it was different. Not edible, but different.

Plus HE EMBRACED the challenge. He didn’t rail against it like Aria and just do whatever he wanted. Tom was very appealing this week.

The end comes to the Iron Chef episode and Aria gets the boot, which was a VERY fair outcome (as opposed to the abomination on last week’s Top Chef).

The finale of TNFNS was also well done and not the usual grating annoyance that it has been. It’s interesting that I felt that way, because Rachael Ray directed the three finalists 3 minute pilots.

It could have been brutal, but she was helpful and direct. You see? I have NO problem with RR, as long as she’s not slinging her 9999th version of hamburgers. I like her as a host.

There must have been A LOT more than a few hours coaching and work that went into the pilots, because all three, at the end, looked professional and pretty well done, while the scenes they showed at the beginning of the tapings were pretty messed up.

Herb, for example, was floundering mightily until he taped pictures of his family to the camera and just pretended he was talking to them. (ALL that would do for me is to help me imagine eye-rolling and deep sighs. I’d RATHER be talking to no one.)

They showed the pilots in a studio with Bob, Susie and Bobby, hosting an audience made up of Food Network aficionados, who looked like they’d been sent in from Central Casting. You had the pretty girl, the youngish shirt-sleeved guy, another pretty girl with the part in her hair much too far over, lots of different ethnic types, plus no one too old, too large or too NOT well-dressed.

This focus group had good things to say about all of the finalists, but Tom seems to have captured the most enthusiastic attention. While the other two were pretty well-turned out, Tom rolls into his pilot looking schlumpy as usual…which actually didn’t bother me or the audience.

He seemed very authentic and he IS wearing a (poorly) fitted jacket for the finale. Tom had the best line of the night on his video when he takes his chicken over to the oven and says it’s ready for the big dance. That’s probably NOT from the chicken’s perspective, however.

And Tom’s sign-off was great; “I’m big chef. Don’t be scared. It’s YOUR kitchen.”

You know who he reminds me of? A much less professional, less skilled and less accomplished Anne Burrell. He has the same bull in a china shop demeanor, constant good humor and eagerness for good eats.

We’re nearing the end of the finale. I’ve been an Aarti fan since the beginning and I find myself in the last 10 minutes of the show rooting for Tom.

The selection triumvirate give it away that they’re not going to pick Herb. They find him MUCH improved, but they think they might be taking more of a chance on whether he could continue to improve. That leaves Tom and Aarti.

Aarti started out strong and had some road bumps along the way. Tom started out catatonic and had a powerful finish. Which way to go???

In the seconds before they unveil whose picture will be on the wall with other Food Network notables, I want Tom to win. I think he would be enjoyable to watch.

Who is it? It’s…Aarti. I can’t be unhappy. She’s charming and, most importantly, her food is good and, according to the judges, many times REALLY GOOD.

I have to say, though, that Tom has really grown on me. And if those pretty focus group folks have anything to say about it, I think the Food Network will find a place for him.

Note:

For the first time this season, I actually remembered that there was an “after party” on the Cooking Channel. I set my TiVo to record it after the finale and when I went to watch it (the after party), it was a show called Unique Eats. What the hay?!! I really wanted to hear what Sunny had to say. Was that me or them? Did anyone else have that problem?

Top Chef DC - Restaurant Wars: A Ridiculous Outcome And Frank Bruni Yells Coco Chanel’s Name

Maybe yelling is a slight exaggeration, but in response to a fashion question, Frank rushes in with the answer, “Coco Chanel”. More about that later and it IS amusing to hear who it was that brought up the style icon. Hint: It wasn't the former model who hosts Top Chef.

The Quickfire Challenge is the seen-before tag team cook-off. It's a good one. The chefs have 40 minutes to make a dish, with each one taking a turn to cook for 10 minutes. The chefs are blindfolded until it’s their turn, so they can’t be sure what went on before.

The blue team with Kenny at the helm gets off to a very strong start. He sets out everything like a road map and there is no wondering what to do.

Angelo’s red team wasn’t so lucky with Alex oversalting the fish. The blue team, Kenny, Kevin, Kelly and Amanda won. No immunity but they split $10,000.

The judge was Nancy Pelosi. I like her, but she did stride into the room with a bit of a queen-like manner. Plus, I’m not so sure Madam Speaker garnered herself any votes. I’ve never seen so much equivocating.

Oh wait, she’s a politician. Of course, she hemmed and hawed. Pelosi said she liked both dishes, but after a bit of sputtering, she finally admitted that the red team’s dish was too salty, so she gave the win to the blue team.

The Elimination Challenge is Restaurant Wars. I don’t know why, but it just didn’t seem as exciting as in past seasons. Did they have more chefs in the past?

Alex is kicked out to the dining room, because none of his teammates want him ruining the food.

It seems like we’re being setup for a shock, because the Blue Team is working together beautifully and calmly, in a very organized fashion. The Red Team is running around panicked that Alex will ruin anything he touches.

Flash forward to the unbelievable results.

They call the Red Team in first which is startling to the Blue Team. The Red Team seems pretty surprised to be in there too. HOW did they get to that decision? They don’t even mention the dishes that they didn’t like. What is going on? Ed wins. Whatever, this is NOT making sense.

The Blue Team goes in. They are as confused as the viewers. When Padma tells them they are the losing team, even SHE doesn’t sound convinced. Kenny says that their communication in the kitchen was spot on and that he’s really surprised to be there.

Then Gail pipes in that they don’t care what was going on in the kitchen. They just care about the food and SERVICE. Well, apparently not.

Frank says he liked Kelly’s hosting; they didn’t like her soup. They liked Kevin’s fish; didn’t like Amanda’s meat - but did like Amanda’s sauce. Okay, we know all this. But WHY was the Blue Team worse than the Red Team?

There are no satisfactory answers. And I think Kevin and Kenny are REALLY brave when they enlighten the judges about what was going on with the other team regarding Alex. How is it fine that Alex did nothing and did NOT contribute a dish, which would have possibly changed the outcome?!!

Tom actually asks Kevin if he thinks Alex should go home and Kevin says YES…almost grateful that the long Alex nightmare could be over.

They go back to the stew room while the judges deliberate. Kenny and Kevin actually tell the Red Team TO THEIR FACES how unfair their strategy was.

Is there actually a glimmer of hope that the judges will do the right thing? No, they call them back in and amazingly send Kenny home. What?!? AND they absolutely do not give a reasonable explanation of why. I’m kind of fed up.

Let’s rewind and look at exactly what the judges’ reactions were to the two team’s restaurants and dishes. Note: Frank Bruni was the guest judge.

Alex is really unpleasant to the wait staff and does not greet the judges as they come in. Oh, and the Red Team named the restaurant EVOO, pronounced E-VOOOOO (not the usual Rachael Ray way). That name is sooo dumb.

They say the food will be Mediterranean. Does that mean that an American restaurant should be named Ketchup? Or a Chinese one Soy Sauce or a French one Butter? Oh wait, THAT IS a good name. Never mind….except about the EVOO.

ANGELO

CONFIT OF TOMATO SOUP, SQUASH & OLIVE CROUTON

Frank says he eats "that and I think I want to taste Angelo’s cooking. I think his cooking could take me in some interesting directions.”

Tiffany

Crudo Of Black Bass & Yellowtail Snapper With Meyer Lemon Caper Relish

Gail: ”Tiffany missed the subtlety here. It is amazingly salty.” Tom: “I think it’s borderline.”

They wait SO long for their entrées that Padma asks, “How we doing?!!” She actually says, “I want my second course.” Shouldn’t they have lost on the spot? Tom actually gets on his phone. To order takeout, I wonder?

Tiffany

Striped Bass, Stewed Spinach, Chorizo & Clams

Gail: “A little bit overcooked.” Frank thinks it’s a nice recovery from the first course and he likes “the chorizo presence”.

Ed

Slow-Baked Turbot, Eggplant Caviar & Black Olive Jus

Frank: “I really, really like Ed’s fish dish. There’s nothing overly aggressive about the way it’s sauced and seasoned.” Tom: “It’s really nice.”

Alex

Pan-Seared Lamb Chop, English Pea Puree, Smoked Bacon & Parmesan Foam

Frank: “I thought the lamb was beautifully cooked,” but he wishes there were texture in the dish.

Alex introduces the next dish as a PORK chop. Ninny.

Angelo & Ed

Seared Rib Eye Steak, Crushed Walnut Potatoes & Balsamic Fig Reduction

Tom does not love the steak, but he doesn’t mind the walnuts and potatoes. And Frank adds that he’s not getting the Mediterranean from their dishes and that’s their theme.

Frank says the service has been hit and miss. Y’think??? Alex is neither efficient nor warm. Frank also reminds the judges of Alex’s mistake at calling HIS entrée a pork chop.

They get up to leave and are interested to see if Alex will bid them farewell. Nope, no goodbye either, and he’s just standing there looking clueless and doesn’t move.

The Blue Team’s restaurant 2121 (the number of the Top Chef house) gets off to what we’re supposed to think is a better start. Kelly greets them warmly and shakes hands with everyone.

Kenny (back in the kitchen) says he created dishes to fit in with their American progressive concept, not to fit in with his ego.

Kelly

Chilled Sweet Corn Soup With Maryland Blue Crab Salad

Tom: ”Not a lot of corn flavor. Also it’s very thin. There’s noo flavor in this dish.” Gail: “I do like that Kelly used crab, so there’s this seasonal localness.” But she points out that the corn isn’t seasonal at the moment. They agree that in a couple of months, this soup might have been A LOT better.

Kenny

Beet Salad With Warm Chorizo Citrus Vinaigrette

(Why did they keep saying last week that Ethiopian food was everywhere in DC? I’m getting a definite Spanish vibe with all the chorizo being used.)

Frank: “Kenny has loaded the salad with A LOT of stuff.” And your point is?

Tom wonders who said “in fashion” one should always take off one accessory. In a split second, Frank offers that it was Coco Chanel. Tom: “I think he needed 3 or 4 accessories taken off this dish.”

BUT Tom hasn’t actually said anything was badly prepared in Kenny’s dish and he criticized Ed last week for ONLY having Steak, Rice and Beans in a dish. WHICH is it, Tom?

Amanda

Oakwood Grilled Strip Steak With Roasted Sunchoke & Maitake Mushrooms

Tom: “It’s cut too thin, so you can’t get that rich crust on the outside.” Frank: ”You can look at it and know that you’re not going to get the pleasure from it that you want.” They like the sauce.

Kelly comes over to check on them. Apparently, in her restaurant (which looks really good from the website), she’s in the kitchen and her husband is in the front of the house.

Kevin

Pan Roasted Halibut, Fennel Marmalade & Tomato-Fennel Emulsion

Frank: “I think this is really pretty. Kevin should paint.” Tom: “I think there is a lot of flavor in here. I think the fennel flavor is sooo present in this dish. It’s a really good sauce.”

Kenny

Crispy Aged Goat Cheese & Strawberry Rhubarb Relish

Gail: “Is it me or is that a massive piece of goat cheese to serve for one person?” Frank: “This is awful.” (Tell us how your really feel Frank.) “It’s a horror show.”

Kelly

Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart & Blackberry-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

Gail: “I love the salt in Kelly’s chocolate tart. I love the crust on Kelly’s chocolate tart. The ganache was creamy and silky.” Frank: “The ice cream had NO flavor.” Killjoy.

Before the judges leave, they agree that both teams had better luck with fish than meat. Frank hates the EVOO name and he says that BOTH teams had dishes that were embarrassments. And they agree that the service was much better at 2121.

So this seems to be the deal: They liked 4 of the Red Team’s dishes (but with quite a few provisos) and said 2 of them were bad.

And the Blue Team? They REALLY didn’t like 2 dishes, Kelly’s soup and Kenny’s goat cheese. But they loved Kevin’s fish and Kelly’s tart (but not her ice cream), and they liked Amanda’s sauce but not her meat. Even though the judges thought Kenny’s salad had too many ingredients in it, they never said they thought it was poorly executed. AND, again, they thought the service was really good.

Perhaps the Red Team had a tiny edge with the food, but that had to have been lost with the horrible, inadequate service.

During the Red Team’s service, Padma was sitting there complaining about the service; Tom was on the phone, so how could that NOT count hugely in the overall decision?

I’ve said this before - HORRIBLE service makes a HORRIBLE evening, NO MATTER HOW GOOD THE FOOD IS. And fantastic service can make just about anything taste better.

Since they didn't show us more of what went on between the judges, we're left wondering why the complete lack of decent service didn't count more against the Red Team. THEN they could have logically sent Alex home.

They are really risking antagonizing their viewers big time. I promise you NOONE wants to see a finale between Alex, Amanda and Ed.

I really wanted to see the judges go rogue and kick off Alex, even though his team won...which it shouldn't have.

As I was about to post this, I checked out Tom’s excuse for this week’s outcome. He snarkily reiterates (as if we were children) that Alex was on the winning team and so he wasn’t going to be eliminated AND that they ONLY judge on the current challenge.

I don’t mind the snarkiness (that would be mightily hypocritical on my part), but I’ve always hated the judging-only-on-the-current-dish thing. Surely Tom remembers one complete loser who was chosen Top Chef as a result of that dictum.

Eric’s reaction was interesting. His best point was that the failure of Kenny’s dishes had nothing to do with Alex’s shortcomings. And even if you’re the Executive Chef, you still have to taste your dishes and send out good food.

I’d kind of love it if the ratings went WAY down next week, so Bravo could understand that we weren’t ready to get rid of “The Beast”.

Oh, and I spied this in TINY print at the end of the episode; “Winning and elimination decisions were made by the Judges IN CONSULTATION WITH producers. Some elimination decisions were discussed with Bravo.”

Tom even says that the producers were not happy with the decision to eliminate Kenny. I wonder if they actually had to get the producers’ permission to send Kenny home. Bad call!!!