People watch Top Chef for two reasons: seeing crazy culinary feats and waiting for that moment when people finally snap - this episode had both. And boy was it juicy this time. The general feel of the group was basic: Robin shouldn't be there, Mattin should have stayed.So wearing the red bandannas of their fallen comrade, the other chefs did their best to honor them. And Mike I reluctantly let Robin take one as well. With that, they immediately head to the kitchen for the quickfire challenge.
The guest judge was Michelle Bernstein, a regular guest judge known for her Latin-style cooking and favoring clean and simple dishes over complex ones. The challenge: in one hour, create an angel and a devil dish based off the chef'testants personal angels and demons.
With the sound off, the chefs bust out their dishes. By the time judging begins, only six minutes had passed. That means only one thing: there's some juicy drama coming up that's better then the food!
It was fairly uneventful for cooking but a few comments on the quickfire. Ash is starting to slip up, he only completed half of the challenge but claimed that it was "delicious in his head" when he tried to make a pair of custards. While Bryan and Laurine joined him, making this season very heavy on the highs and lows for certain chefs. Meanwhile, Michael V.'s salmon was done "perfectly" and Eli just used plenty of butter. But it was Robin, who's personally battle with cancer made for an excellent inspiration, with her salad and ginger crisp.
Thus cued the excellent editing of Jenn looking furious, so the one everyone wanted to get the boot next had immunity. That certainly changes the game. And Eli needs to be called out on claiming that the only reason Robin won was because she had cancer. I guess he's starting to channel Mike I.But the real fun comes from the elimination challenge and special guest judges - Penn & Teller!
After some delightful sleight of hand, which Kevin was really enjoying, the chefs are told that they will be drawing knives and the dish they get will have to be deconstructed. Thus creating sleight of mouth for the judges!
Best reveal: Toby has returned! While he's no Ted Allen, the Brit's got a razor wit and is more than willing to rip contestants apart. And wondering where he's been all this time, he was hit riding his bike! Once the chefs drew their knives to get their deconstructed dishes, the real fun began.
Jenn was freaking out over her lasagna, since she's never had to do anything like this before. Kevin was very excited for a chance to redeem himself with the mole negro. Meanwhile Mike I. didn't know what Eggs Florentine was (it's eggs benedict with spinach instead of ham, but no one else seemed to really know that) and Ron didn't know how to deconstruct a dish. Eli's franken-pressure cooker exploded and Laurine become more enraged with Robin.
Once the dishes were ready to be served, the chefs went out in pairs - Tom's blog talks about how they stagger start times so everyone gets to serve after the same amount of time. Michael V's deconstructed caesar salad was a hit and Toby called Mike I.'s "not a deconstruction, it was a reinvention." Hard to tell if that was an insult or not. Ash didn't really know what a shepherd's pie was and left off the potatoes, which make Toby look enraged.
Jenn wowed the judges with her lasagna, same with Kevin's mole negro and Ashley's pot roast. Eli's sweet and sour pork was compared to bulls testicles, only bigger in appearance. Ron overcooked his rice which somehow made it both dry and soggy. I don't even know HOW that could happen.Voodoo magic probably. At the end was immunity Robin, who's dish was described as "texturally repulsive" by Toby.
Ashley, Michael, Kevin and Jenn went to the winner's table, with Kevin taking the win along with some non-stick pans as a prize! The losers were Ron, Ash and Laurine. Potatoes were the bane of Laurine (who didn't have enough chips on her fish and chips) and Ash (who tried to make potatoless shepherd's pie) but it was Ron's breaking of the time-space continuum of making soggy, dry rice that was the biggest offender. Though it did allow everyone to mock Toby for his pronunciation of paella (pah-el-la for the British I guess).
With Ron being told to pack his knives and go, it made sense. I'm sure he's an excellent chef within a certain field but this challenge clearly wasn't in his skill set. He claimed in an interview that he was going to open up restaurants next to Tom and Michelle to challenge them. In another one, he explained that customs wouldn't let him bring a sword to the competition and that his voodoo ritual did keep the snakes out of his tent.
Overall, a solid drama-y episode. Great TV and the return of Toby is fantastic, though I will miss Gail. Next week they're cooking in the house, and Mike I. will have to work with "I've-over-stayed-my-visit" Robin.
Best reveal: Toby has returned! While he's no Ted Allen, the Brit's got a razor wit and is more than willing to rip contestants apart. And wondering where he's been all this time, he was hit riding his bike! Once the chefs drew their knives to get their deconstructed dishes, the real fun began.Jenn was freaking out over her lasagna, since she's never had to do anything like this before. Kevin was very excited for a chance to redeem himself with the mole negro. Meanwhile Mike I. didn't know what Eggs Florentine was (it's eggs benedict with spinach instead of ham, but no one else seemed to really know that) and Ron didn't know how to deconstruct a dish. Eli's franken-pressure cooker exploded and Laurine become more enraged with Robin.
Once the dishes were ready to be served, the chefs went out in pairs - Tom's blog talks about how they stagger start times so everyone gets to serve after the same amount of time. Michael V's deconstructed caesar salad was a hit and Toby called Mike I.'s "not a deconstruction, it was a reinvention." Hard to tell if that was an insult or not. Ash didn't really know what a shepherd's pie was and left off the potatoes, which make Toby look enraged.
Jenn wowed the judges with her lasagna, same with Kevin's mole negro and Ashley's pot roast. Eli's sweet and sour pork was compared to bulls testicles, only bigger in appearance. Ron overcooked his rice which somehow made it both dry and soggy. I don't even know HOW that could happen.Voodoo magic probably. At the end was immunity Robin, who's dish was described as "texturally repulsive" by Toby.
Ashley, Michael, Kevin and Jenn went to the winner's table, with Kevin taking the win along with some non-stick pans as a prize! The losers were Ron, Ash and Laurine. Potatoes were the bane of Laurine (who didn't have enough chips on her fish and chips) and Ash (who tried to make potatoless shepherd's pie) but it was Ron's breaking of the time-space continuum of making soggy, dry rice that was the biggest offender. Though it did allow everyone to mock Toby for his pronunciation of paella (pah-el-la for the British I guess).With Ron being told to pack his knives and go, it made sense. I'm sure he's an excellent chef within a certain field but this challenge clearly wasn't in his skill set. He claimed in an interview that he was going to open up restaurants next to Tom and Michelle to challenge them. In another one, he explained that customs wouldn't let him bring a sword to the competition and that his voodoo ritual did keep the snakes out of his tent.Overall, a solid drama-y episode. Great TV and the return of Toby is fantastic, though I will miss Gail. Next week they're cooking in the house, and Mike I. will have to work with "I've-over-stayed-my-visit" Robin.
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