In the last episode, my favorite character to hate went home. I still have hope that Bene will lose his mind at some point, but he isn't as villainous as Jason was. Nicholas was friends with Jason and I must have missed that, but it doesn't matter now. Nicholas is sad because he and Jason wanted to cook their way through this show together. Jason should have made those salmon rolls to order, though, am I right? Seriously, am I? I have no idea.
For this challenge, I'm guessing it will have something else to do with Mardi Gras or the French Quarter or Bourbon Street… or Disney's The Princess and The Frog. New Orleans has so many more clichés to offer. But first, the Quickfire challenge.
The judge for this challenge is Dana Cowin, who is a tough and lovely lady. They make an awkward introduction for the challenge about "food trends." Emeril says one of the big food trends was "blackened," and restaurants were using that everywhere, probably until Chili's got a hold of it and made it uncool. Padma says there are some food trends we wish would just "go away," and that is what this challenge is all about. Coincidentally, the results of this Quickfire will make one of the chefs just go away.
Dana Cowin says that chefs can often have an unhealthy relationship with trends and she got to choose her four most hated food trends to challenge the chefs with. The chefs must stand up for these food trends and make them cool to Dana again. Good luck, chefs, am I right?
The trends are eggs, kale, smoked and bacon. After Sara admits that she likes eggs on top of everything and Dana advises the chefs not to make kale salad or kale chips, Padma announces that this is an elimination Quickfire. We still have no idea who most of these chefs are, so many of them have to go before we can start investing in favorites. Immunity is also up for grabs. The chefs only have 30 minutes to impress the over-it Dana Cowin.
Olivia Newton John and some other chef whose name I forget are working on the "smoked" trend. Michael is also doing that and he won't stop saying the word "smoke." I think I will hate Michael , and I am starting to love Justin. By the way, the viewers think that kale is the food trend most past its prime. Take that, kale -- fuck off already!
Shirley is working the egg challenge, making a soft and fluffy scrambled egg. The blonde chef from last season is working on bacon and making a bacon sweet potato pasta. Bret, who might be an idiot, is doing a kale salad on top of a gazpacho in spite of Dana Cowin's advice. Aaron is also ignoring Dana by doing crispy kale, otherwise known as kale chips. Nina, the chef from the Caribbean, is working on putting an egg on top of a soup.
Time is up and it's time to taste the dishes. Nicholas is up first with his egg on top of other eggs, with egg sauce. Nina did a little tiny quail egg on a purée. Carrie put egg on top of green beans, but chopped, not poached. Shirley's dish also receives rave reviews.
The smoked group is up with blackened arbol chiles from Sara, smoked oysters from Michael the Douche, pork loin from Janine Newton John and smoked trout from Louis. Bacon brings seared bacon tuna from Bene, scallops and bacon from Brian, more scallops from Travis, Carlos's halibut and bacon vinaigrette, and Stephanie's bacon pasta.
Oh god, Patty is such a home cook. She made kale with garlic for the kale round. Justin made steamed kale with some other fancy stuff. Aaron made fried kale (chips!) with too much salt, of course, and Bret made kale juice with that damn gazpacho. So far I don't like Aaron, Bret or Michael. Thankfully, someone will be eliminated.
The favorite dishes are Nina's teeny tiny quail egg, Shirley's egg on a soup and Stephanie's bacon pasta. Duh, because eggs and bacon are awesome. But what do I know? I am just a plebian. Anyway, Shirley wins immunity.
Bret is penalized for making a kale salad, which he was explicitly asked not to do. Aaron's kale was too salty and Louis's trout is lacking smokiness. The viewer poll about Bret didn't even matter, as Aaron is sent packing for over-salting his Quickfire dish. That's just the way it goes. Bye, Aaron.
For the elimination challenge, the chefs are cooking at Commander's Palace, one of the most lauded restaurants of New Orleans. The chefs will dine there that evening to learn more about the challenge. Cue the jazz!
At Commander's Palace, the chefs speculate what the challenge might be. Eventually, they are rewarded by Executive Chef Tory McPhail, who Justin of New Orleans totally knows about and lost an award to. The elimination challenge is to replicate a classic Commander's Palace dish in taste and presentation. We, at home, can only judge the presentation and boy will we with our online poll votes.
The first dish is Shrimp and Tasso Henican. Are they allowed to take notes? I'm with Carrie, this seems impossible. But Shirley feels confident, as a so-called "Shadow Chef," who is good at recreating other people's dishes. The second dish is Black Skillet Seared Trout. But the chefs aren't done eating, yet. Emeril's Veal Chop Tchoupitoulas is (are?) up . For dessert, it's a strawberry trio: a shortcake, a cocktail and, of course, a beignet. Tory McPhail tells the chefs they will be cooking in the groups they are seated with, and assigns them their dishes as they digest.
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Some of the dishes' creators will be at the table for the challenge, and the original will also be prepared for a side-by-side comparison. Janine says she just about crapped her pants.
The night, the chefs hit the Commander's Palace kitchen and the stress level is stupid high. I get stressed out using the microwave, so this situation would probably end me. Thank god I am not a James Beard Award Nominee, I say to myself daily.
Louis does not seem confident, and he is in charge of making sure the spices are on point for his trout team. Stephanie is also nervous, working on the biscuits for the strawberry trio. The only person who seems confident is Shirley, who is preparing the veal chops. But Patty is also on the veal chop team, so it probably won't go well? Also, they've got that overconfident Bret guy, who has elected to take the chops directly from the grill onto the plate. We are told this is a risky move.
The New Orleans high-end diners greet each other loudly and sit down to share stories of Commander's Palace history. The judges smile politely.
For the first course, Nina accidentally plated on Michael's plates and Michael is a dick to her about it. But, to be fair, Michael is a dick to everyone. He throws Nina's okra on the table because he's looking out for #1. What a turd.
The shrimp and tasso henican is up first. It seems like Bene hit the mark and Michael's is presented well. Travis's shrimp is not coated well and the tasso isn't integrated, whatever that could mean. Nina's shrimp works well but she didn't quite get it on the other ingredients.
The speckled trout is up and Bret was in the way during plating. Tom says everything is under-seasoned, but they seem to agree that Janine's is the best of the four. They all look wrong and Nicholas's is just crazy, Louis's is overcooked and dry, Carlos is lacking seasoning. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the chefs high five each other on a job well, done.
There's big trouble in veal chop land. The dishes come out and Brian's is the closest but his brussel sprouts are raw. Patty nailed the presentation at the very least. Shirley's veal chop is a bit over-done and while Bret got the sauce right, his plate is a big dumb mess. Judge Hugh Acheson says that, to be fair, the chefs don't have a lot of time. It almost seems like he and Tom will go back into the kitchen and test themselves with this challenge, but Tom would rather just sit and eat and pretend to laugh at all these weird New Orleans jokes.
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Finally, the dessert course is rolling out. Strawberries… three ways! Where is the poll on this? Which way is the best? We need to know.
Sara's beignet is kind of jacked, Carrie's dish seems good and so is Justin's because he's local. Stephanie's cocktail is good and her biscuit makes the grade. The judges agree that the dessert course came out the best of the four.
In the stew room, the chefs wait for the monitor of ultimate truth to turn on. It's clear that Justin and Stephanie did well, but Justin is likely the winner. Most of the other chefs did not do well. The comments cause Bret, Nicholas, Louis and Carlos to hang their heads in worry-shame. Stephanie, Justin and Nina are called in first for the praise.
Justin is the winner, and the viewers predicted it at 63%. I feel like that number should have been higher. Louis, Carlos and Bret head to the judges' chambers for the bad news. The bad news is: you blew it.
Louis just lost his mind and didn't taste his own food. Come on, Louis. Carlos knew his dish was bad but had to put it out anyway. Bret defends his veal chop, and it looks like his risk to put the meat on late didn't really work out. Also, his plating was messy. I'd be OK with seeing Bret go home, but it should probably be Louis for not even tasting his food in a challenge where you're supposed to mimic the flavor of another dish you have eaten?
Back in the stew room, Nina (or Patty?) tries to break the ice and Bret says, "It's just hard because there's three people in this room whose dreams might get shattered." What a complete dick; I hope he goes home. The judges can't believe Louis didn't taste his own food or how bad Carlos's fish was or why Bret didn't get his chop on the grill in time. So, whose dreams will be shattered?
Finally, Padma tells Bret to pack his knives and go. Bret's dreams are shattered and the viewers grade his effort a C, which is solidly average. Bret says at this particular moment, he's between jobs and he doesn't know what's going to happen. He will probably go cook at a restaurant, I'm guessing.
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