By Kim
Quickfire Challenge. Food God Eric Ripert is the guest judge, and the cheftestants are nervous. The challenge is a three-round fish-filleting tournament. In round one, they have five minutes to clean and butterfly two sardines (yes, the tiny ones) to make them look like the one Ripert prepared. Leah and Fabio do well and Jamie and Carla butcher it, in a bad way, so they're eliminated. In Round Two, they have to fillet an arctic char. Leah flips out and gives up halfway through, and Fabio leaves a bunch of meat in the head when he chops it off, so they're eliminated. The final round is peeling and filleting a freshwater eel, which is still mostly alive. It's not quite dead yet. They have to nail the eel's head to the cutting board to keep it still. That's how not dead it is. Hosea puts in a valiant effort, considering he's never worked with eel before, and Stefan has been working with eel since he was a child (which sounds dirty), so he wins.
Elimination Challenge. After a special meal of six entrees prepared by Eric Ripert's kitchen, the cheftestants are told that they will each need to recreate one of the dishes. They'll have two hours to prep and practice, with critique from Ripert, and then have fifteen minutes to prepare the dish for the judges. Stefan gets to choose, due to his Quickfire victory, and he chooses lobster. The others have to pick knives to get assigned a dish. The judges will get a side-by-side comparison between the cheftestant's dish and Ripert's version.
Fabio cooks red snapper crusted with sourdough bread, and the judges agree that the imitation is close. Leah cooks baked mahi-mahi with miso and matsutake mushroom sauce. The judges feel that Leah's lacks flavor. Stefan cooks baked lobster with asparagus with hollandaise sauce. The judges agree that the only small difference is that Stefan's sauce is a little thicker. Carla runs low on time, so with the help of her fellow cheftestants, she prepares oil-poached escolar with potato crisps in a red-wine béarnaise sauce. The judges admire the degree of difficulty in the dish, and think Carla did an admirable job. Hosea prepares za-atar spiced monkfish with black garlic. The judges agree that his sauce is close, but his fish's spice is too heavy and it's slightly overcooked. Jamie cooks sautéed black bass and braised celery with Serrano ham peppercorn sauce. Throughout the competition, Jamie has been ragging on the concept of braised celery, so of course she screws it up. The celery ends up way over salted and inedible, though the fish is fine.
At Judges' Table, Eric Ripert tells Fabio, Carla, and Stefan that it was a tough call, but Stefan is the winner. And Stefan gets a copy of Ripert's book. More excitingly, he gets to follow Ripert in his restaurant and attend the Food and Wine festival with him. Now that's a prize. Leah, Jamie, and Hosea are sent out to face the music. Hosea admits that he didn't let the fish rest enough before cutting. Leah couldn't figure out Ripert's sauce, and admits it, and is also forced to defend giving up in the Quickfire. Jamie knows that her celery was over salted, but when she realized it, it was too late to fix it. Colicchio seems to push hard for Leah to go, but ultimately Jamie is told to pack her knives and go. I don't know if it was editing or if that's how it really went down, but Colicchio basically called Leah an idiot and yet she stayed. Boo.
Check out the show's official site for exclusive video, photos, blogs and more, sign up for the Top Chef fantasy game and revisit the most heinous past cheftestants.
Cheftestants preparing food in their apartment's kitchen, as per usual in the episode opening. Stefan muses in an interview that Jeff was eliminated, and Stefan learned that he never wants to be in the bottom three again, and he feels lucky that he got to stay. Humble Stefan! Whoda thunk it?
Uh oh. Fabio is calling home to talk to his wife. This is a bad omen for his future on the show. He talks to his wife about how his restaurant is doing, and teases her over whether or not she's being honest. He wonders if perhaps the restaurant is "burned down to ground and [she's] opened up a hamburger shack in West Hollywood."He interviews that he needs to win this competition for his wife. I thought he needed to win for his ailing mother? Who's ? His great-uncle? His second cousin twice removed?
How are the other cheftestants doing? Hosea promises that, as the last American male chef in the competition, he'll take the Euros down. Carla finally got her first win, and she thinks she's being underestimated. I'd agree with that - I certainly haven't seen her name on anyone's list of probable winners or even finalists. But that could be because she's screwed up a lot (although not as badly as the others who were eliminated) and is mostly known for making an awesome pastry crust. There's no word from Leah or Jamie, so interpret that as you will.
Quickfire Challenge. Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin is the guest judge this week. The cheftestants are visibly awed and nervous to cook for him, especially since he's known for his French technique and his ability to cook fish. He's also kind of cute, and not in an untouchable master chef way. He seems approachable. I think it's because he's very smiley. Padma announces that the challenge will test their precision and technique; they'll be competing in a three-round fish flleting tournament. I would fail. I have tried to clean a fish exactly once, and not only was I grossed out, but it was a disaster. My brother-in-law, on the other hand, can clean a fish in like two seconds, but I would cast doubts on his precision.
First round. The cheftestants are given two whole sardines, plus a third one that Ripert has already fileted as a guide. Yes, sardines. Like those tiny little fish that come in a can, though these are probably fresh. Hosea interviews that the hardest thing about working with such a small fish is that the bones are tiny, and if your knife slips even a little, you've cut through the meat and ruined the whole fish. And did I mention that they only have five minutes? Yeah. Now this is a challenge. I hope no one cuts their finger off, like that poor dude in the first episode. Anyway, Hosea says that his hands are shaking, and then interviews that he's the seafood guy so people are expecting him to do really well in this challenge. Stefan thinks this is a tough one as well, and Leah knows that she's screwed up with fish before, so she's trying to redeem herself. HIGH STAKES! Hey, they have to do something to ratchet up the tension because watching people cut a tiny fish open is not all that exciting. Carla's hand is shaking as well and, on her second fish, Leah just starts swearing and says that she should go home right now. I agree! Let's do it! I would like to port my proposed Survivor rule to this show, which is that if you say that you want to quit, you are immediately removed from the show. Because it's annoying. Leah practically tosses her last fish onto the plate as Padma calls time.
Judging of Round One. Carla is up first and her first sardine looks just okay but the second one is a mess. Carla tries to preempt the criticism by telling Ripert that his sardine is beautiful, unlike hers. She goes all down home-y and says, "Girrrrrrrl! It's butchered, chile. You don't have to say it. We all know what it is." Ripert just laughs and shakes his head, and then moves on without comment. Carla interviews that she "pushed Chef Ripert on" because hers "looked like crapola." I enjoy Carla's honesty, but I wonder when that's going to bite her in the ass. It seems like you can only be self-deprecating for so long because people start to wonder when you're going to make something that makes you proud. Leah is , and Ripert compliments her speediness and lack of bones, though it's not perfect. Ripert tells Stefan that his look nice, although he left some bones in. Jamie is already laughing at her performance, perhaps taking the Carla approach to judging. Her sardines look pretty sad. There is hardly any meat left on them, which Ripert notes. Fabio's look the best so far, and he says that when he started cooking in Italy, all he did was clean sardines and chop onions. Ripert runs his finger over them and notes that there are no bones at all. Hosea also takes the Carla approach, saying that he's disappointed in himself since he's a seafood chef, but his hands were shaking. Ripert still thinks they look pretty good, despite those issues. Now that he's had an up-close and personal look, Padma asks Ripert who did the best job. He names Leah (who is shocked) and Fabio. Padma asks who did the worst job and Carla, embarrassed, raises her hand, which makes Ripert laugh some more. Ripert names Jamie and Carla, and Carla interrupts him to say that he doesn't have to explain why. See, it's kind of charming, but also maybe she should let the chef speak. It seems kind of rude to be constantly interrupting him to tell him that she knows that she sucks. Everyone is laughing, though, so I guess it played differently in the room.
Round Two. The four remaining cheftestants have five minutes to filet an Arctic char. I wasn't familiar with this fish, but it's related to both the salmon and the trout, to give you a sense of its size and texture. Leah makes some big mistake while removing the bones and sort of half-laughs and half-cries. Behind her, Jamie and Carla are watching and whispering and giggling, and Leah starts playing to their audience, throwing her hands in the air and saying that she gives up. She keeps muttering that she can't do this, and stops when she has only one filet on her tray. Meanwhile, Fabio, Stefan, and Hosea are quickly removing small bones from their filets as time runs out.
Leah is first to be judged, and she goes all pouty and puppy-dog eyes as she says that she got nervous and gave up. SHE GAVE UP! That is horseshit. She should be told to pack her knives immediately. Leah interviews that she mentally shut down and "was just over it." Guess what I'm over? I'll give you a hint. It starts with a Le and it ends with an ah. Ripert doesn't even know what to say. Hosea interviews that you can't give up, and she gave Ripert a terrible first impression. He adds (in my mind only) that he can't believe he ever found her attractive. Stefan is up , and Ripert points out that he left some flesh on the bone, and also some bones in the flesh. Stefan acts like he could not care less about it, and says that he's happy with how he did, which is almost as much of a turnoff as Carla's self-deprecation. Ripert moves on to Fabio, and points out that he cut too much off when he cut the head, and left a bunch of meat there. Ripert cuts the extra flesh from the head and points out that it's almost an entire steak lost. Hosea is the star of this round; his filet has no bones and it's very precise, according to Ripert. Now it's up to Ripert to announce who won't be moving on. Leah is the obvious choice, and he throws Fabio on the pile for wasting so much flesh. Hosea throws Stefan a mocking kiss, and Stefan doubles down on it, adding a wink.
Round Three. Hosea and Stefan have to filet a freshwater eel. Stefan looks psyched and Hosea looks terrified. As if eel weren't creepy enough, these have been recently killed and apparently eel follow the Monty Python school of injury, as they're not quite dead yet. They're still wriggling around on the table, making cutting them a challenge to say the least. Hosea interviews that they don't have eel in Colorado, so he's stymied, and meanwhile Stefan has been cleaning eel since he was knee high to a wiener schnitzel. Time starts and Hosea begins trying to peel the skin from the eel, but the problem is, how do you get a good grip on the eel so that you can pull the skin off with the other hand? It's sort of like trying to get clothes on a toddler, or at least one that has recently fallen in a vat of baby oil. Slippery and uncooperative. Stefan busts out a hammer and nails the eel's head to a wooden cutting board, then slips off the skin with no problems. Hosea sees this and follows suit, though he admits that he wishes he had thought of it on his own. All of the eliminated cheftestants are watching the cringing the whole way. Hosea interviews that Stefan quickly had two perfect eel fillets, but Hosea knew he couldn't give up (Leah!), so he soldiered on. They both finish in time, with two filets complete.
Ripert comes over to judge Stefan first. Stefan admits that he grew up cleaning eel. Ripert thinks the filets look good, and also admires how clean Stefan's station is, and that he didn't act rushed. Ripert moves on to Hosea, who says that it's probably obvious that he's never done this before. Ripert thinks he didn't do such a bad job, considering, but even I can tell that Hosea has much less flesh on his filets than Stefan. Ripert names Stefan the winner, to the surprise of no one. I thought Hosea put in a valiant effort; I bet if he had been up against anyone else in the final round, he would have won. Can you imagine Leah or Carla trying to filet an eel? Please. Padma says that Stefan doesn't get immunity, but will have "a very useful advantage" in the challenge. Stefan giggles, "Like last time," since he lost his head-to-head last week. Hosea looks annoyed that he lost, but I think he knows he didn't deserve to win that one. Hosea interviews that Stefan's been "doing eels since he was three years old" and notes sarcastically that it's "another reason Europe's so great." In conclusion, Ripert invites the cheftestants to a private lunch at Le Benardin, which is obviously a prelude to the Elimination Challenge, and then they all leave.
Weird interstitial. The cheftestants have some sort of Quickfire Challenge on their own, with Stefan cooking something in the microwave. I'm guessing they gave him random ingredients and told him to make something edible, since his dish seems to include summer squash, bananas, and cookies. Fabio and Leah and Hosea all goof around while trying to eat the dish. My friend Smooch and I used to do that in my mom's kitchen - we would mix together random ingredients (with liberal use of condiments and spices, since I knew my mom wouldn't get mad if we used those items), and then dare each other to eat/drink them. I don't think either of us ever threw up.
Fabio and Hosea wake up and greet the day. Hosea interviews that it's a real honor to sit down to a meal with Ripert and Colicchio. Padma doesn't get a mention. Everyone gets sort of dressed up. Stefan puts on clean jeans, and Jamie has on her best T-shirt, as they head to Le Bernardin. Hosea explains that it's New York's finest seafood restaurant, and is known for food that looks simple but is difficult to make. They are all seated in the private dining room and Ripert explains that they'll be tasting six dishes from the menu. You can see the cheftestants doing the mental math: six dishes and six cheftestants remaining. Better pay close attention and use that palate, kids! The first dish is sourdough crusted red snapper with tomato basil consommé. Almost all of the dishes are some form of seafood, and then a sauce or broth is poured over it at the table, probably so the crusts and whatnot don't get soggy. Hosea is filled with praise for the dish. The second dish is baked mahi mahi with miso and matsutake mushroom sauce. Fabio loves the mushrooms and interviews that he's impressed with the simplicity of the food. Third is baked lobster with asparagus and Hollandaise sauce. Leah interviews that she loves the food so much that she wants to give Ripert a hug. I wish I could make fun of her for that one, but I did say that I thought Ripert was cute earlier, so I'll have to let it go. Jamie interviews that the food is delicious, but she's bored by this kind of food, and it doesn't inspire her. She doesn't explain, and I wish they would have let her.
The fourth dish is oil-poached escolar with potato crisps in a red wine Bearnaise sauce. Carla interviews that the food is beautifully presented and delicious as well, and she wants to be one of his dishes when she grows up. She tells Ripert that she went to culinary school in DC and ate at one of his former restaurants there. The fifth dish is za'atar spiced monkfish with black garlic. Fabio and Stefan comment that it tastes sweet, almost like licorice. The sixth and final dish is sautéed black bass and braised celery with Serrano ham and peppercorn sauce. Jamie interviews that it's her least favorite of the six dishes, because she finds the sauce weird, and she's not a fan of celery. I have to say that braised celery doesn't sound great, but I've only ever used celery to transport dip into my gaping maw, or as a mix-in with various egg and potato salads, where it provides some texture and crunch.
Colicchio calls for the final course, and the waiter brings out the knife block. Colicchio explains that the Elimination Challenge will be to recreate one of the six dishes that they just had. The ingredients are in the kitchen, and they'll have two hours to prep and practice, and Ripert will offer them some critique. Then they will cook the dish for the judges in the upstairs kitchen. Stefan gets first choice of dishes, thanks to his Quickfire win, and he chooses the lobster. Hosea interviews that he chose the easiest dish; I don't think he's saying that lobster is easy to prepare, but the Hollandaise sauce is familiar, especially compared to some of the others. The cheftestants now start choosing knives; Carla gets the escolar, Hosea gets the monkfish, Leah gets the mahi mahi, Fabio gets the red snapper, and Jamie is left with the black bass. Jamie interviews that it was her least favorite dish, but she knows that part of the challenge is cooking something you don't necessarily like or even know how to prepare.
The cheftestants arrive at Le Bernardin's basement kitchen to find a tray with all of the ingredients they will need for their dish on it. Carla interviews that she's never oil-poached fish before, so she's nervous about the technique. Fabio is pleased that he got the red snapper dish, because it's one of his two favorites. It's interesting because they haven't portrayed Fabio as particularly adept at technique, but remember when he made those crazy olives earlier in the season? So clearly he does know a thing or two. Jamie admits that there are multiple components to her dish that she's never done before, but she has two hours to figure it out. She gets Hosea's help in slicing the Serrano ham. Stefan is confident about his dish, and demonstrates for the camera how to remove the pooper from the lobster tail. I'm sure there's an actual term for that part, but let's face facts: it's the pooper. Leah interviews that she was the head fish cook at her last restaurant (really? She's not exactly doing them proud, then) and she knows all eyes are on her since she gave up in the Quickfire. Hosea admits in an interview that he's not schooled as a chef (have they mentioned that before?) and sometimes it catches up with him. In this challenge, he's never used za'atar spice before so he's not sure how much to use and he's going by trial and error.
Fabio interviews that none of them have Ripert's thirty years of experience, so this is tough. Fabio notes that his Italian cooking may not match Ripert's French cooking, though the two countries do share a border. Thanks for the geography lesson! Leah struggles with how to incorporate the miso into her dish. Stefan tastes it and advises her to add more miso, but she doesn't want it to be too strong, so she mixes it with butter.
Ripert arrives to taste the dishes. His only note for Stefan is that the asparagus isn't supposed to be cooked. So they serve raw asparagus? They don't even steam it? Maybe the heat of the fish and the sauce cooks it a little? Who knows? Actually I do know - I just watched Leann's recreation of Stefan's recreation of Ripert's recipe on the official site, and she did poach the asparagus for two minutes. I guess Ripert meant that the asparagus are not baked with the rest of the dish, maybe? I have officially spent too much time thinking about this. Moving on. Ripert tastes Leah's broth and tells her that it's too intense.
Ripert tastes Carla's dish and tells her she needs more acidity in the sauce but her fish is fine. Carla interviews that she went to a French cooking school, so she knows the techniques she needs for this dish. That's interesting, because thus far Carla has been presented as the home-y soul food with love type. I didn't know she was trained in classic techniques. Meanwhile, Hosea, who I thought had good technique, has no formal training? It's like left is right and up is down! Ripert tells Hosea that he's used too much za'atar spice, so Hosea has to figure out how to change his dish. Ripert leaves the kitchen without tasting Jamie's dish, which seems odd, but shortly Jamie explains that she was in a time crunch and she didn't have time to let Ripert taste her dish. That seems like a terrible idea; you have all this expertise right there, and you don't use it? Even to have him try your sauce or whatever, if you couldn't get a plated dish put together? Maybe there were rules about what he would or would not taste.
Padma, Colicchio, and Toby arrive in the dining room, and the cheftestants head upstairs to the main kitchen. They will each have fifteen minutes to fire and plate their dishes for judging. The judges chitchat while waiting for service. Colicchio thinks this will change some of the cheftestants' careers, because working with great chefs changes the way you think about food. Ripert may be nodding a little too enthusiastically as the "great chef" being discussed. Colicchio notes that it's intimidating to just be in Ripert's kitchen, cooking.
Fabio is the first to serve. He sears the bread, and worries that it may be a bit overdone, but maybe not. The judges get served Ripert's version and the cheftestant's version side-by-side, which is fair, but brutal. They note that the bread is a bit overdone, and the fish is too thick, but the flavors are good. Toby adds that it's not a bad impersonation, but it does reveal that "details make an enormous amount of difference." Colicchio compares it to a forgery of a painting: looks good on the surface, but scratch the surface and you start to see differences. Look at Colicchio, getting with the metaphors. If only he'd added some pop culture references in there, he could give Toby a run for his money.
Leah serves . She keeps having to put her fish back in the oven because it's not quite done. She also explains that she didn't get the miso exactly right. Her version is too strong, so she just put a little less of it on the plate and hoped for the best, although she knows it's not exactly right. The judges notice the lack of miso right away; Toby comments that he doesn't have any on his plate. Colicchio's fish is overcooked but Ripert's is fine. Colicchio thinks that Ripert's has loads of flavor, while the only thing he can taste in Leah's version is ginger. Toby says that Leah's dish is dull, while Ripert's version is "a new discovery." Ripert is flattered, since he knows Toby is a tough critic, and Padma jokes, "Congratulations. You are the Top Chef." Look at Padma with the quick wit. I thought she was too busy looking at her hands, man.
The to serve is Stefan. He says that he's seen the other dishes going out, and he knows that his is better. The only difference he can find in his dish is that his sauce is a little thicker, but he doesn't think that will be a deal-breaker. Stefan gets his dish plated with the help of his fellow cheftestants, and then offers up the leftover lobster to them. Aw. I like when they all work together. As the food is served, Padma notices how much thicker Stefan's sauce is, and indeed the server has trouble getting it off the spoon and onto the plate. Ripert says that he makes his sauce in a blender, and Stefan made his by hand, which is arguably harder to do, I would think. They all note how close Stefan's dish is to the original, and Padma says that Stefan is "dangerously nipping at [Ripert's] heels." Oh, why not just give him the win now and end the season? I have to think they are showing all this praise to set up an eventual downfall, because right now, Stefan seems like the obvious winner of the whole thing.
Carla is concerned about cooking her fish, because she's had to wait a long time for her fryer oil to get hot enough to cook the potato crisps. She runs out of time a little bit, and her fellow cheftestants chip in (no pun intended) to get her food plated and out the door in time. Carla admits that, if not for her competitors, she wouldn't have made it. The only complaint from the judges is that some of the potato chips are not as crisp as they should be, but some are. Colicchio is impressed, since this was a very difficult dish, and he thinks it's quite close. Ripert agrees.
Hosea says that, as the "seafood guy," he really doesn't want to go home on this challenge. The problem is that his fish is kind of wet and he knows that the crust isn't exactly right. He sends out his food and hopes for the best. Colicchio looks at his plate disapprovingly before he's even tasted it. They all agree that the sauce is pretty good, but the fish is too heavily spiced with the za'atar. Colicchio educates us all by saying that monkfish needs to rest before you cut it, and this didn't rest. Ripert agrees, and Colicchio adds that Hosea works in a seafood restaurant, so this should have been "right in his sweet spot," and yet it's "the least precise of all the dishes."
Jamie is the last to serve. She's not worried about her fish, because she knows how to cook that. The problem comes when she's cooking the celery. It's not soft enough at first, so she keeps it on the heat, but as a result, the liquid it's braising in reduces too much, concentrating the flavors, and the celery ends up way too salty. Jamie knows this, but she decides that she can't just not serve it, so she sends it out. As the judges sample the celery, they all make faces, and Colicchio refers to it as "a salt lick." I still nurse a pet theory that Colicchio likes Jamie best of all, so let's see how this pans out. Colicchio says that the fish is well cooked, if not quite up to Ripert's standards, but Toby responds that it's "remarkably poor." Colicchio just shakes his head and says it's not as easy as it looks. Have we seen him defend any of the other chefs that way? I think not. Conclusion: he loves Jamie. Toby goes into one of his extended metaphors about how Jamie tried to perform Ripert's high wire act and fell flat on her face without a safety net. I don't even know what that means, and Ripert just smiles and nods, so I don't think he does either.
Back in the kitchen, the cheftestants wait for judging. Hosea isn't sure how his fish went over, and Leah tells him that it should have been seared more. Interesting that exactly none of the judges had that criticism; goes to show how much Leah knows about food, I guess. The judges repair to Judges' Table for... wait for it... judging!
In the Stew Room, the cheftestants share a toast. Fabio tells them that, no matter what happens in judging, they all rule, and there is a general murmur of agreement. Padma shows up and asks to see Fabio, Stefan, and Carla. I enjoy how Padma pauses and acts like she's deciding on the spot who will be called in to up the suspense. Acting! Stefan gives Jamie a kiss (on the forehead? Hard to tell) before heading out, and the three remaining clearly know that they are the bottom three.
Padma tells Fabio, Stefan, and Carla that they are in the top three. She asks Stefan to talk about his dish first. He says that he knew what was in the dish when he first tasted it, and Colicchio asks if that means it was easy. Stefan clarifies that it was nice to cook food that he grew up with. Ripert and Colicchio agree that his flavor and presentation were both excellent, and the only drawback was that the sauce was a little on the thick side. Fabio says it was an honor to complete this challenge. The judges have mostly praise for him as well, saying that his flavors were good, but slightly different from Ripert's. Carla says that she loved this challenge. Ripert is curious, because the menu says that the sauce was a Bearnaise, but it was in fact a beurre rouge. Carla says that she let the sauce get cold, and she could see how much butter was in it (presumably because it congealed?). Toby found the dish "rich and powerful" and says that the dish could be called "Pablo Escolar." Man, that is one wedged-in punchline. Colicchio recognizes that it's daunting to recreate a master chef's dishes, and wishes they could skip choosing a winner, since they all did well. Ripert announces that the winner of this challenge is Stefan. Fabio looks happy for his friend but Carla looks a little peeved. And honestly, her dish was way harder, but Stefan came that much closer to the original, I guess. Ripert gives Stefan a copy of his book (of course), but what's much cooler is that he invites Stefan to shadow him in his three restaurants for a week, and then join Ripert at the Food and Wine festival in Pebble Beach. That's an amazing prize. Thank God they finally upped the ante a little bit. Stefan looks thrilled.
Back in the Stew Room, Fabio announces that Stefan won, and then Stefan sends the remaining three out to Judges' Table. Padma asks Hosea if he's surprised to be there, since he works in a seafood restaurant. Hosea says he is a bit, but he knew he was inexperienced with za'atar spice, and he had to give it his best shot. Ripert says that the sauce was good, but his fish was overcooked and the za'atar crust was too thick, which overwhelmed the dish. Colicchio brings up his favorite talking point, which is that monkfish needs to rest before it's sliced. Hosea says that he knew it didn't rest long enough, but he also couldn't go back and redo it afterwards. Colicchio is relieved that Hosea's issue was due to time instead of ignorance of proper technique.
Padma asks Leah if she knew what mistakes she made. Leah explains that the heat from the fish melted her butter-miso combination, and she didn't know how to fix it. Ripert explains that they dilute the miso with lemon and then dilute it with broth so that it becomes like a thick sauce. Colicchio thinks this was a failure in Leah's powers of observation. Toby says that he barely had any miso and Leah explains that she didn't want the miso to overpower the dish, so she was sparing with it. I'm kind of extrapolating here since she babbles on without making sense, but she did say that same thing during service, so it's not like I drew it out of thin air. Toby says that, as a result of his lack of miso, he just had "this dull lump of fish" on his plate and he claims that it's still stuck in his teeth. Could someone get him a toothpick? Colicchio asks Leah about when she gave up in the Quickfire, and if that means she's burned out. Leah says that it absolutely doesn't, because she wants to be there, and she really regrets her actions. She concludes that she tried her best at Ripert's dish. Colicchio has a look on his face like, "If that's your best, you're in trouble."
Padma asks Jamie if she's surprised to be there. Jamie knows that her braised celery was oversalted, so she's not surprised. Ripert agrees, and Jamie explains what happened with the reduction concentrating the salt. Padma says that she would have sent it back if she could, because "it wasn't appetizing to look at or to eat." Whew! Don't hold back, Padma. Toby says that the sauce had a metallic aftertaste, and it made the whole dish "completely toxic." Jamie says that she didn't love the original dish (she's a little nicer about it, but not much) but she thought she did a good job deciphering the flavors of the sauce. Colicchio realizes that she did understand the dish, and Jamie says that she knew her mistakes, but only after it was too late to fix them.
Padma thanks them and sends them back to the Stew Room. Jamie and Leah argue over who's going home, and Jamie reminds her that the judges hated her dish. Back at Judges' Table, Padma says that this was a really difficult challenge, but all three of the losers "made critical mistakes." Colicchio reviews Hosea's mistakes: he should have seared the fish before spicing, and he should have let the fish rest before slicing. Hey, that kind of rhymes! Toby points out that Hosea got the sauce right, and it was difficult. Backstage, Hosea says that he may be a seafood chef, but he's never cooked that particular dish before. up, Ripert says that Leah misunderstood the dish. Colicchio adds that it was obvious there was no fat in the dish, and yet Leah added butter, which shows she's not paying attention. Colicchio thinks that Leah's head isn't in the game anymore, clearly referring to her quitting the Quickfire. They keep cutting to shots of Toby looking serious but he doesn't actually say anything, and his facial expression is killing me, it's so goofy. He looks like a bulldog. It really looks like Leah is going home at this point.
Finally, Padma brings up Jamie's too salty celery. Toby points out that Jamie understood what she did wrong, and Colicchio asks if it's worse that Jamie knew her mistake and how to fix it, or Leah didn't even understand the dish. See? They faked me out here. I really thought it was going to be Leah. Plus, Colicchio loves Jamie. Ripert thinks they are both major mistakes. Backstage, Leah and Jamie are still playing, "The Judges Hated My Dish More."
The judges call the bottom three back in now that they are in agreement. Colicchio tells them that this experience should change how they approach food for their entire career, but they each made mistakes. Hosea didn't spend enough time observing the fish, Leah misunderstood the concept of the dish entirely, and Jamie oversalted her celery. Padma tells Jamie to pack her knives and go. I really hate the idea that they are only judged on each challenge, because Leah has been making mistakes all along and Jamie is usually pretty good. It's obvious that she just had an off night, cooking food that's not her strength, and yet she's going home. I really wanted to see her in the finals up against Stefan. If Leah makes it to the finals, there will be hell to pay. HELL TO PAY! I have a bully pulpit, and I'm going to use it. I'm sure the producers are quaking in their boots. Anyway, Jamie is all gracious to the judges and says in her exit interview that she's grown a lot as a chef and a person. She thinks she's learned patience as well as to have more confidence in herself as a chef. I never really thought confidence was Jamie's problem, but whatever. I enjoyed having her on the show, and I will miss her. Not as much as I would have missed Fabio or Carla, but I sure wish Leah had gone home this week.
Kim plots world domination, one domain at a time, at her blog Fresh Hell. You can contact her at reedkim@gmail.com.
When it comes to the wannabe chefs on Top Chef, some are delicious pizzas and some are rotten eggs. See what we mean with our Top Chef: Sweet and Sour Cheftestants gallery.