By Kim
Quickfire Challenge. Guest judge is Wylie Dufresne. It's scaring me that I not only recognized him on sight, but I associated him with Marcel and that whole molecular gastronomy foam business. Anyway, Wylie loves eggs, so the challenge is to take an hour and create something with eggs. That's pretty open-ended, and it's a lot of time, but the cheftestants all recognize that they need to do something related to molecular gastronomy. The first named to the bottom is Fabio, who did all kinds of wizardry to make dishes that looked like eggs, but didn't actually contain eggs, like a dessert served in an egg shell with mango puree as the "yolk." The second on the bottom is Hosea, who made a trio of Japanese-type dishes but Dufresne felt like the three dishes didn't complement each other. The last on the bottom is Leah, who made a heavy and greasy potato ravioli. The top two, then, are Carla and Stefan. Carla made green eggs and ham, using spinach in the egg whites. Dufresne appreciated her use of humor. Stefan made two egg dishes, one savory and one sweet, both with impeccable technique. Dufresne names Carla the winner, and she's thrilled that she won by keeping it simple and not even using molecular gastronomy, since that's not her strength.
Elimination Challenge. The cheftestants pull knives, each imprinted with the name of a giant in the culinary field. Since it's their last in New York, they will be cooking the chosen "last meal" of their food icon. And can I just say that, for a bunch of chefs, they chose really boring last meals? There's not a hamburger or a steak in the bunch. During prep, Fabio breaks his little finger but refuses a hospital visit so he can continue cooking. Colicchio comes in during prep and begs the cheftestants not to embarrass him.
Leah cooks Eggs Benedict for Wylie Dufresne. The judges find it pretty good, though the egg whites are a little runny and the sauce is a bit thin.
Stefan cooks salmon with spinach and roasted potatoes for Marcus Samuelsson. The judges find the salmon to be overcooked, which ruins the whole dish.
Hosea cooks shrimp scampi with tomatoes Provençal for Susan Ungaro. The judges don't really like the departures Hosea took from the traditional dish, particularly the tomatoes.
Fabio cooks roasted chicken and leafy salad for Lidia Bastianich. The judges love the simple and straightforward dish.
Carla cooks roasted squab with fresh peas for Jacques Pépin. The judges are divided over whether the squab is overcooked, but Pepin loved everything about the dish.
At Judges' Table, Jacques Pepin tells Fabio that he was the unanimous winner. Wow! Even with a broken finger! Carla gets praise for her peas and gets to leave the kitchen as well. That leaves Hosea, Leah, and Stefan as the bottom three. Leah is told her egg was undercooked and she shouldn't have second-guessed her Hollandaise; Stefan overcooked his salmon, and Hosea strayed too far from the traditional recipe. FUCKING FINALLY, Leah is told to pack her knives and go. I could have lived with Hosea missing the finals, but not if it meant Leah was going. And the finals in New Orleans start week!
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see what we think were this season's Biggest Misfires! And check back soon for the full recap!
Stefan, Fabio, and Hosea sit out on the balcony and discuss Jamie's exit. Stefan says he'll miss her, but also recognizes that she made a mistake, and it's to his benefit to have one more cheftestant eliminated. He also recognizes that, no matter how talented you are, one mistake can mean going home. Leah makes her bed and rasps in an interview that she flunked out of college, and then started working in a restaurant and fell in love with it. She seems like the type that loved the camaraderie (and male attention) of the kitchen and that's what she fell in love with more than the food. I'm just doing some amateur psychology, and I'm probably wrong, but it sounds like it could be true, doesn't it?
Carla and Stefan sit in the living room. Apparently, Stefan is a bit down and Carla starts clapping and going, "Yew can deeeeeewwwww it! Yew can deeeeeewwwww it!" Man, if he was discouraged before, now he's probably homicidal. I love Carla in the small doses I get once per week; I don't think I could take living with her. Stefan looks like he agrees with that assessment. In an interview, Carla explains her background: she was a model, and then went to culinary school late, so she feels like she's a dark horse in the competition but could also be an inspiration to women everywhere. Also, birds. Big birds. I'm just saying. So that's the briefer-than-usual (it seems, I didn't time it or anything) reflection on past episodes and setting up for this episode. Must be a good competition this week! Also, it's a normal length episode, so that could have something to do with it.
Quickfire Challenge. The cheftestants enter the kitchen to find a tableau of various sized and colored eggs, and standing to Padma is Wylie Dufresne. Wylie Dufresne always looks to me like instead of a chef, he should be the lead singer/guitar player in an alt-country band. Like he would fit right in with Wilco. Maybe it's just me. Hosea explains, for those who haven't watched seasons, that Dufresne is known for molecular gastronomy and "standing food on its head." That sounds difficult to balance, especially when you're talking about eggs. Padma reminds them that this is the last round in New York, and four of the cheftestants will be heading to New Orleans for the semifinals and finals.
Dufresne explains that he's there because he loves eggs, and he believes that the ability to properly cook an egg is a sign of a good chef. Padma explains that the challenge is to take one hour to create a dish using eggs that will "surprise and delight our egghead, Wylie, over here." When did Padma become a vaudevillian with the jokes? Fabio interviews that he really needs to win this so he can get whatever advantage it offers for the Elimination Challenge. Padma calls time and the cheftestants start running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Fabio explains that he's making a dish with three components: one part will be made with eggs, one part will be made to resemble eggs, and the third part will be a soup in an actual eggshell that...resembles eggs. So dishes two and three both look like eggs but don't actually contain eggs? As far as I can tell. Fabio explains that molecular gastronomy allows you to change the flavor and texture of different foods, and we see a shot of Fabio acting like a mad chemist, opening up bottles containing various potions and notions and adding them to his eggs and whatnot. Fabio concludes that he knows that he can please Doo-frez-nee's palate. But he can't pronounce his name.
Hosea's plan is to use the egg to make something else, something Japanese. He wants to make a thin sheet of egg white and then wrap it around salmon and asparagus in the manner of sushi, and he's also going to attempt a whole tempura-fried egg. Hosea explains that he's never done either dish before. He might want to consider investing in a sweatband, because his head is super sweaty, and if that drips into his food, that's disgusting. Not to mention salty.
Leah thinks it's important to know molecular gastronomy, because it's the new cutting-edge food trend, and then she concludes that she'll be upset with herself if she doesn't win this challenge. I really fail to see how those two statements are related. She'll be upset if she can't master molecular gastronomy? She thinks she's already an expert in it, so she should win? I don't know.
Stefan thinks he's a great chef and that he deserves to win. Well, so far, I think the judges kind of agree with him, so you can't really fault him there. Anyway, Stefan is making two components: a panna cotta with something inside that resembles egg yolk, so it looks like a poached egg, and then on the other side, an egg with Bearnaise sauce.
Carla admits that she is totally not a molecular gastronomy kind of gal, so she's going for clever instead. She's making green eggs and ham. I always wondered if the ham is green too in that scenario. I think in the book, the ham was green. Anyway, as Carla speaks, the editors put Cajun-style music behind her which seems as much a clue as any that she's going to New Orleans week.
As time wanes, Fabio starts sprinting around the kitchen. At one point, he even nearly shoves Carla out of the way, though he's fairly gentle about it. Hosea thinks they're all rushing around because they are pulling out all the stops for this challenge. The only one who's not, in Hosea's opinion, is Carla, and he thinks her dish might be too simple. Have we learned nothing from Jeff's elimination? Remember Jeff? Dildo Cafe? That guy? Carla acknowledges that she's moving slowly, but says that's because she knows what she wants and she wants it to be perfect. Padma and Wylie return and Padma counts down the last seconds as the plating concludes.
The judges approach Stefan first. He explains that he's made a savory egg dish and a sweet one. The savory dish is a poached egg on brioche with ham and Bearnaise. Sounds delish. The second is panna cotta with with mango puree and sweet bearnaise. Stefan sure loves his panna cotta. Also, the second dish doesn't have any eggs in it, but it is meant to look like a poached egg (why would you want something to look like an ugly poached egg?). Then Stefan says something that sort of indicates that there is egg in his second dish, but I'm not sure if he was explaining the look or the ingredients. Mystery. Okay, I checked the official recipe on the official site, and it is the least helpful recipe of all time, but it looks like there were no eggs in the panna cotta or mango.
Leah made a quail egg in potato with caviar and brioche with ricotta and bacon Hollandaise. Ooh, I missed that she made Hollandaise for her Quickfire, so presumably she is familiar with it. Wylie calls it "very nice."
Carla explains her inspiration was Dr. Seuss, so she put spinach in the egg whites to make them green, and she added green tomato salsa and jalapeno oil. Green tomato salsa sounds gross. Padma and Wylie both think it's "pretty" but don't talk much about how it tastes.
Hosea made a Japanese trio. First is an egg white roll with salmon and asparagus. That would be like candy to a South Beach diet follower. Second is egg white sticky rice with poached shrimp and avocado. Third is an avocado and tempura-fried egg salad. The tempura-fried egg looks like a giant lump of batter to me, but I'm curious about the egg inside. Is it boiled? Poached? None of the above? Wylie asks about the egg white sheet used for the roll, and is clearly fascinated by it. He does wish it wasn't "as eggy," which seems kind of bullshit for an egg-based challenge.
Fabio is the last to present. He made a tiny quail egg on a miniature buckwheat pancake for his first dish. The second is coconut milk panna cotta with mango puree made to look like a fried egg. Hmm, almost the same dish as Stefan, but fried instead of poached. Everyone knows that fried eggs are way prettier. The last is lychee soup with melon yolk, served in an egg shell so it looks kind of like a raw egg. Why would you want to eat something that looks like a raw egg? What am I, Rocky Balboa? Wylie and Fabio talk molecular gastronomy for a moment, the only chef we see Wylie discuss his favorite cooking technique with. It looks like Fabio has it in the bag.
Padma asks who's on the bottom. Wylie says that Fabio is. Whaaaaaaat? I guess Wylie thought Fabio made too many non-egg dishes, and instead made a lot of dishes that just looked like eggs. Yeah, God forbid he show some freaking creativity. Hosea, creator of arguably the second most creative dish, is also on the bottom, because Wylie didn't think the dishes went together well. Oh, whatever. He's bugging me. Say that they tasted bad, or weren't prepared well, but I thought both chef's concepts were strong. Wylie liked one part of Leah's dish, but he thought her potato ravioli was too heavy and greasy. See? There's a reason to dislike a dish.
So that means Stefan and Carla are the top two. Wylie liked the humor in Carla's dish, but when they show it, it looks fake, like maybe it's made of plastic. And how did it taste? He never really mentions it. Wylie thought Stefan's technique was top notch, even though half of his dish was the same as Fabio's, which he hated. I wish we were allowed to ask follow up questions, because I'm not understanding his line of thinking at all. Anyway, Wylie chooses Carla as the winner. While I'm a fan of Carla and I'm intrigued by her comeback storyline, I don't think she had the best dish. Of course, I didn't taste them, but the judges didn't talk much about the flavors so I don't feel like that was a big part of their decision. They keep telling the cheftestants to take risks and then the ones that do are told their dishes are too complicated. Carla interviews that she won with a simple dish and no molecular gastronomy. Wylie says that Carla won by focusing on one dish instead of trying to make multiple components. But didn't she make green eggs AND ham? So it wasn't really just one thing. I don't want to begrudge Carla her win, which may have been well-deserved, but I feel like the reasoning presented by editing didn't really gel.
Elimination Challenge. The cheftestants are told to draw knives, and they find that there is the name of a famous person from the culinary world on each. The names are either famous chefs or food critics. Fabio gets Lidia Bastianich, famous for Italian cooking and her shows on PBS. Also, her resemblance to my mother-in-law. I mean, they look nothing alike but they sound and cook exactly alike. Fabio is psyched with his choice. Hosea gets Susan Ungaro, the only one of the batch that I was like, "Who?" Thankfully, Hosea explains that she's the President of the James Beard Foundation. Stefan gets Marcus Samuelsson, executive chef and co-owner of Aquavit, who was raised in Sweden. It's like they're matching the cheftestants up, but it's a random draw, so I guess not. Leah gets Wylie Dufresne, who's standing right there. Carla gets Jacques Pepin, legendary French chef. This is almost too much of a coincidence, no? Padma explains that since this is the last challenge, they asked each of the famous chefs what they would want for their last supper, and the cheftestants will be preparing it for them. Wow, no pressure. Hosea says as much in an interview
Padma tells each cheftestant what he or she will be cooking. Carla's making roast squab with fresh peas for Jacques Pepin. Really? Squab? Wouldn't you go with something totally unhealthy and decadent for that last meal? Maybe that's why I'm not a culinary genius. Well, that and so many other reasons. Like the fact that I made Double Chocolate Turtle Rice Krispie treats for my Valentine's Day dessert. Wait, that might be genius. Hosea will be making shrimp scampi with tomatoes Provencal for Susan Ungaro. Stefan will be making roasted salmon and spinach for Marcus Samuelsson. Fabio will be making roast chicken with roasted potatoes and a leafy salad for Lidia Bastianich. Wylie asks for eggs Benedict for his last meal, so Leah will prepare it. Really? These are the most boring last meals of all time. Where are the turduckens and the three-pound cheeseburgers and the steaks? I bet the producers were really disappointed when the chefs revealed their choices. BORING! Padma says that Carla's advantage as Quickfire winner is that she can swap with anyone else, but Carla doesn't want to. Carla interviews some nonsense and squeals about PEAS! For JACQUES! I don't know that the written word can convey Carla's excitement. Padma gives logistics: three hundred dollars and thirty minutes to shop, and then two hours to prep and cook. Stefan interviews that it would really suck to be eliminated right before the finals. In fact, he claims it would be "the true, real shitstick." Can't argue with that.
Weird interstitial. The cheftestants go out to dinner at the restaurant owned by Harold, winner of Season One. He makes small talk with them but he kind of looks like he couldn't care less. That was random.
The day, the cheftestants head to Whole Foods. The men play grab ass and horse around while walking in. Actually, Fabio and Stefan pretend to elbow each other out of the way and then Hosea runs up from behind and tries to get in on the fun, which seems emblematic of something, but I don't know what. Carla interviews about the challenge, and says that she thinks she and Jacques are two peas in a pod. That would be cuter if it didn't feel like the person behind the camera asked her to say it. Fabio reviews the dish he has to prepare and jokes that they might as well have handed him something that said "Welcome to the final" because it's that much in his wheelhouse. Hosea goes to buy his shrimp and Stefan runs up and jokes with the guy behind the counter about giving Hosea subpar shrimp. Hosea interviews that Stefan is definitely the guy to beat, but all it takes is one mistake to get sent home, even for Stefan. Stefan interviews his honest assessment of Hosea: he doesn't think Hosea has enough experience or balls to be a chef. I'm not sure how the balls help, but I'm not a dude. Perhaps they impart some sort of flavoring? Okay, how many times have they been to Whole Foods this season? And presumably they go to the same one? And Leah is asking an employee where the eggs and butter are. WTF? Leah explains that she's going to use challah bread (Holla!) and put her own spin on the recipe.
The cheftestants arrive at the event space, Capitale, and start prepping. Carla explains that her plan is to keep it simple, and just make the food that Pepin wants: squab, peas, and a great sauce. Leah loves eggs, and she feels like she has something to prove. She sure as hell does. At least she's not making fish again. Stefan explains that Samuelsson is Ethiopian but grew up in Sweden, so he's practically Stefan's homeboy. Stefan brags that he's been cooking fish for twenty-three years and he couldn't possibly screw it up. I note that he sears the fish on the stovetop and then puts it in the oven to finish. This will be important later. Hosea explains that he's putting his own spin on his dish, and none of them are sure if they're supposed to do that or stay traditional. Yeah, some guidance would be nice. It kind of sucks that you could be eliminated because you didn't follow the rules that no one told you about.
Suddenly, there's a crash and some grunting from Fabio off-screen. It seems that he fell and bent his finger back (and according to the official site, it was dislocated, not broken, but still - FUCKING OUCH!). The medic comes over and stabilizes his finger, then asks if Fabio wants to go to the hospital. Fabio says he doesn't, because he wants to cook. Or, as Fabio says, "I'll chop it off and sear it on the flat top so it doesn't bleed anymore, then tomorrow, I will deal with nine finger." What would this show be without that crazy Italian?
Carla gives Fabio a little growly pep talk and calls him Rocky. I think those two should take their act on the road. Fabio interviews, "I always say, 'That so easy, I could do with one hand tied behind my back'? I didn't mean to. I've got a broken finger now and I'm in the shit." Fabio tries to peel potatoes by holding the potato in his bad hand, but it keeps slipping out. He also has trouble peeling the onions. He interviews, "I got so many kick in my ass, that sometime, when I'm in the bathroom, I still pull shoes out of my ass." He's like a cartoon character. Wind him up and let him go. Anyway, Fabio drops a potato on the floor and kicks it, so it's not looking good for him and the clock at the moment.
Stefan explains that he made two versions of his spinach: one with cream, and one without. He is confident he'll get to the final four. Carla thinks this is a bad idea: "Marcus, I know that's your dying wish dinner, but I gonna give you something else. What? What the hell?" I don't even have to write jokes this week. I just type what they say. Hosea reveals that his last meal might be a really good BLT. I wish all the cheftestants had told us what theirs would be. Although I fear either Stefan or Fabio would give a somewhat dirty answer, so...
Carla is concerned about cooking her meat perfectly, because the squab should be medium-rare. Really? I don't think I would want any bird cooked medium-rare, but maybe that shows I'm provincial or something. Fabio interviews that he wouldn't want his last meal prepared by a cheftestant; he would have his dead grandmother prepare it, and the meal he's making tonight is something she would cook.
Colicchio pops into the kitchen which just reminds me again how much he hasn't been doing that this season. Remember he used to do the Tim Gunn thing where he'd pop in and offer advice? Maybe they thought it was too intrusive or maybe Colicchio went all diva and refused to do it anymore. With ten minutes until service, he begs the cheftestants not to embarrass him in front of these culinary giants. Maybe he should have thought of that like an hour ago? Kind of hard to change course with ten minutes until service.
The judges all walk into the dining room, which is set up just like the Da Vinci painting "The Last Supper" with the long one-sided table. My grandmother has a print of that on her wall and I always wondered why no one was sitting on the other side of the table. Seems like a waste of space. I enjoy the fact that Toby Young has to sit on one end, like they figured out how useless he is and everyone is just biding his or her time until Gail comes back. Hosea says he's most intimidated by Jacques Pepin. Padma announces that Pepin will be representing all of the other guests at Judges' Table. Colicchio interviews that he thinks the cheftestants have a bit of latitude to take each dish and "elevate it and make it really, really special." Might have told them that.
Leah is serving first: eggs Benedict for Wylie Dufresne. Leah explains that she had to thin out her Hollandaise sauce a little bit, and then Hosea helps her plate her food. Carla interviews that she thinks Leah is talented, and she'd love to have two women in the finals. At the table, Colicchio asks Wylie why he chose eggs, and I think we got the message in the Quickfire that he looooooooves eggs. Leah comes out to serve, and explains that she slow-poached her eggs, and added a side salad to cut the fat of the dish. Wylie tries it and says that the egg white is a bit watery, and he doesn't see the point of the salad. Samuelsson adds that the textures are off, and Pepin thinks the Hollandaise is too runny. Toby Young likes his egg whites runny. Of course he does. That's the most obnoxious way to eat an egg. Wylie totally disagrees, as does any right-thinking person.
Stefan serves : salmon with spinach and roasted potatoes for Marcus Samuelsson. Stefan interviews that he thought every part of his dish was good, and he might win. Fabio echoes what Hosea said earlier: that Stefan's history doesn't matter, because it only takes one mistake to go home. Stefan serves his food and explains that he wasn't sure how Samuelsson prefers the spinach so he made it two ways. The judges taste the food and Samuelsson thinks Stefan nailed the dish's concept, but the salmon is overcooked. Wylie thinks the fish is terrible, and Lidia says that a diner would send it back. Pepin likes the dill sauce and the seasoning, but Susan says that she wouldn't have known there were two kinds of spinach if Stefan hadn't said so. I think the salmon got overcooked because he held it in the oven too long. Maybe he should have done the salmon as the very last thing, but timing is so hard.
Hosea has the third course: shrimp scampi with tomatoes Provencal for Susan Ungaro. Hosea complains that his hands are shaking, and they always do while plating. He interviews that this is high pressure because, in a restaurant, if you miss the mark, you'll get another chance. But this is one and done. Hosea serves his food and goes a bit over the top, in my opinion, in talking about how awed he is by the assembled chefs. Then again, if their egos are as huge as I've read about, they are probably eating it up, no pun intended. Samuelsson likes Hosea's spin on the dish, but Pepin thinks the tomatoes aren't good. Toby thought it was too out there, but Susan thought all the flavors were there. Colicchio says that you can judge Hosea for not going traditional, or you can judge him on the merits of the changes that he made to the original.
Poor Fabio and his broken finger are up . He's having trouble butchering the whole chicken and he explains that he got the cleaver (which he pronounces "clever") and he's trying "to butcher the chicken with clever like Jason on Friday the 13th." See, Toby? That's a pop-culture reference I can get behind. Fabio brings out his dish for Lidia: roasted chicken with herb-roasted potatoes and caramelized cippolini onions. He added a leafy salad with carrots, heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. The food plate looks amazing and is making me hungry. The salad, on the other hand, looks like the kind you buy in a bag. Wylie can't say enough good things about the chicken, but he thinks the salad looks like something you would get on an airplane. What airline is he flying? The most I've ever gotten is that terrible party mix or maybe a couple of peanuts. Samuelsson thinks the dish could go straight into a restaurant and Lidia says it's exactly what she was hoping for.
Carla has the last course: roasted squab with fresh peas for Jacques Pepin. Carla is worried that she cut the squab too early and thus the temperature might not be right, but she thinks she was true to what Pepin requested, and it might save her. As the judges wait for the food, Pepin explains that he chose squab because it's what his mother used to serve on special occasions. Carla enters and serves her food, explaining that peas are her favorite too. Susan thinks the peas were perfection and she's been converted to the Squab Way. Samuelsson liked the simplicity, but thought the squab was a bit overcooked. Lidia likes the squab, and Colicchio explains that the younger generation believes squab should be less cooked, while the older generation likes it more cooked. Did he just tell Lidia that she's an old bag? How rude! Doneness aside, Colicchio appreciates what he calls "the audacity" to serve just the squab and peas with a simple sauce. Pepin could not be more pleased with the dish and says that he could die happy.
The cheftestants return now that all the food has been served, and the music gets all Field of Dreams or something. Colicchio reminds them that he begged them not to embarrass him, but he says that they did a great job. The diners give them a round of applause. Hosea interviews that he's close to tears thinking about the famous chefs and culinary masters applauding their food. Padma excuses them so the judges can chat about the food.
The cheftestants unwind in the Stew Room. Leah says she doesn't know what she would have done if she effed up her hand like Fabio, and Carla claims she would have rolled with it. Please. Leah would have given up immediately. Fabio says, "It's Top Chef, not Top Pussy." Oh, Fabio. Can we make a talking Fabio doll where I can pull the string and he'll say that, and the Top Scallop line, and so many others? It would please me so. Somehow Leah takes the "Top Pussy" line as an insult, but whatever. It was funny. Hosea proposes a toast to making it through twenty-four challenges together.
Padma shows up and asks them all to come in to Judges' Table, so they go. They start with Leah. Pepin tells her that her egg was undercooked and her Hollandaise was too thin. Leah explains how she thinned it at the last minute and Padma says she thinned out the flavor. I think on top of saying it was too thin, Pepin is saying that her sauce broke, which is a no-no with any sort of emulsion. That's basic technique. They move on to Stefan and Colicchio breaks the news that his salmon was overcooked, which surprises Stefan. Padma explains the problems with the spinach, and Colicchio says the sauce was good, but combined with the creamed spinach, it was too much. Stefan looks devastated, and seems to realize for the first time that he's in danger. Toby adds insult to injury by saying that the potatoes weren't crispy enough, so there was no variety in texture.
They move on to Hosea. Padma says that Susan really liked his dish, but Colicchio adds that she wanted a more traditional scampi. Pepin thought the tomatoes were too refined, and Hosea explains that was by design, because he wanted a pretty plate. Pepin thinks that taste comes before beauty. Fabio gets feedback . Padma says that his chicken was delicious, and Lidia was very happy. Toby thinks Fabio reproduced a dish from his own childhood, which is what Lidia had in mind, and Pepin agrees that the flavors and spices were all very traditional. Colicchio has to be the buzzkill when he says that the salad was, as Wylie said, "an airplane salad." Fabio doesn't even try to defend it and says he's going back to the Stew Room to shoot himself for doing an airplane salad. Everyone laughs and Colicchio quips that the airlines are always looking for good chefs. Didn't they do a challenge about that one time? Ah, yes, in season three.
Finally, they get to Carla, who says that she wanted to keep her dish simple and make it perfect, but she was disappointed because the squab was overcooked. Colicchio agrees with her but says that some people thought it was fine. Pepin says if you couldn't see it, you would have thought it was fine by taste, because it was so tender. Carla is pleased that Pepin is defending her. Everyone is surprised that she managed to get fresh peas, since they're out of season, and Pepin says that the whole dish was perfectly prepared. Padma sends them out for deliberations.
The judges discuss how to judge this one, since you could judge on whether the cheftestant went traditional, or whether he or she executed the meal they decided to make. Padma says the winner must be either Carla or Fabio. Colicchio says that the chicken Fabio made could be his signature dish in a restaurant, but Toby reminds him of the salad. They also wonder whether or not they should take his injury into account. Pepin thinks Carla's peas and Fabio's potatoes were the two best components. Padma says all dramatically, "I thought those peas were perfection." Seriously, it sounded like she was reading a cue card. Colicchio admired Carla's dish, but kind of wishes she had incorporated the components together more.
The judges move on to discuss who should go home. Colicchio brings up Stefan's overcooked salmon first, and says that everything else on the plate was well seasoned and garnished. Colicchio had a bigger problem with Leah's eggs Benedict. Toby defends it, saying that often the Hollandaise overwhelms the dish, so Leah went too far the other way, perhaps. They all agree that the bacon was good, and the eggs only need a few more minutes and a few more degrees in temperature to be perfect. Toby hates Hosea's dish, but Colicchio defends it since Hosea was doing what they always tell cheftestants to do in finding his own way. Toby agrees that it was well-executed, but thinks it was dull. Colicchio says that's why it didn't win, but he doesn't think it merits elimination. The judges concur and it's time to call the cheftestants back in.
Colicchio tells the assembled cheftestants that they delivered some great dishes, but the winner was chosen unanimously. Pepin announces that the winner is...Fabio! Yay! I like that at least the judges are mixing it up and keeping things interesting (and hopefully deservedly so). As the winner, in addition to going to the semifinals, Fabio also gets a giant bottle of fancy wine and a trip to Napa Valley. Fabio interviews that he's not in the semifinals because he's funny or he paid someone; he's in because he "made good food through the competition." Well said. Colicchio tells Carla that her peas were superb, and she's through to the semifinals as well. Carla interviews that she's a tortoise picking up speed and then she mimes looking over her shoulder as she passes people and gets a goofy victory grin on her face and it's the most awesome thing of all time. Someone please make me a .gif of that scene. Anyway, Fabio and Carla leave to go celebrate.
Stefan, Leah, and Hosea are left to face the music. Colicchio reminds Leah of her undercooked egg and her thin Hollandaise. He tells Stefan about the overcooked salmon again, and Stefan looks really nervous for the first time. He tells Hosea that he went too far outside the traditional scampi. And then Padma tells.... Leah to pack her knives and go. FUCKING FINALLY! If she beat out Stefan, I would have cut a bitch. Because, seriously. Leah thanks everyone and Padma congratulates Hosea and Stefan.
In Leah's closing interview, she says that she didn't know the competition would be this hard, and she's made a lot of good friends (and lost one boyfriend). Hosea says he thinks she should be proud (of losing her boyfriend) (and he should be proud of losing his girlfriend) (equal opportunity) (not sexist). Anyway, Leah bids everyone farewell with many hugs and kisses and high fives, and interviews that the competition has given her confidence, but she knows she has to learn a lot more, and she's proud she made it as far as she did.
Once Leah is gone, the remaining cheftestants celebrate and, in separate interviews, talk about how they are sure they are going to win, bitches! Who's your pick? I think mine is still Stefan, although this week threw that into doubt. But I would be okay with any of the remaining cheftestants winning the whole thing, now that Leah's gone.
Kim plots world domination, one domain at a time, at her blog Fresh Hell. You can contact her at reedkim@gmail.com.
Carla's peas might've been perfection, but this season of TC has been far from it. Learn why with our Top Chef: Season 5 Misfires gallery.