Last week, the judges ousted Michael who made a "bloody eye" that tasted "like cardboard." It was probably the right call. And, that dude was a total chode. Nina is pleased to be rid of him, too. "I'm sorry, boo boo, you're a douche," Nina says. Ahhh yes, Nina, we love you.
Carlos won the last challenge, along with Travis (Captain Vietnam), so he's feeling confident enough to share his backstory. The day, as the chefs prepare for whatever Padma will throw their way, Sara admits that she has had a bad attitude lately and needs to get out of her head. Shirley agrees that a positive attitude is everything. Sara doesn't want to disappoint her boyfriend of just over a year.
Padma and John Besh roll into the Top Chef apartment together and this is not a normal occurrence. Is it rude to say John Besh has gained a little weight? Maybe it's just that whatever haircut. For the challenge, Padma tells them to pack an overnight bag. This could mean anything, all the chefs think.
But soon the chefs are wowed by the RAV4 and forget about all their Besh-related worries. A viewer poll asks how great John Besh's hair is on a scale of 0-10 and I'm surprised it even got a half-hearted 5. In true New Orleans spirit, the chefs are getting out of town and going to the country.
In rural Louisiana, the chefs step out onto Covey Rise Farms. It's beautiful and Padma is rocking those Mom Jeans. John Besh greets them and starts talking about a tomato that is only grown in the soils of Louisiana: The Creole Tomato. For the Quickfire challenge, the chefs have 20 minutes to create a dish that showcases the Creole Tomato.
Padma says she brought their pots and pans, and opens the back of the RAV4 very slowly with a remote. It was supposed to look techy and cool but it was about as current as those mom jeans. It would have been better had it been underscored by a slow, long fart.
Justin is excited to show off the tomato's thin skin and high acid levels. The other chefs are like, "tomato … got it." Travis says he feels lost and it's difficult to think outside when the heat and sun are in his face. It's so much easier to think in Vietnam. Stephanie can't think of anything, and Nicholas says anyone who can't come up with a tomato dish in 20 minutes should go home.
Bene keeps making tomato dishes and hopes this one will redeem him. They have started calling him "Bene Tomato," so he'd better deliver. Nina is making a chilled watermelon tomato soup but it's so damn hot on the farm. Patty is working on a salad but the heat is turning it into a hot dish. Stephanie decides on a tomato and watermelon salad with feta and avocado, which pretty much just involves cutting those ingredients and spreading them over a plate. This is something I feel confident I could execute, if not conceptualize. It looks pretty dumb.
Time is up and the chefs present their dishes to Padma and John Besh. Bene is up first with yet another tomato and watermelon chilled soup. John Besh says he loves the balance. Carlos poached the tomato and put some red onions and cilantro on top. Stephanie's dish flops , followed by Nina's chilled soup.
Nicholas made a vegetable/fruit warm dish, Justin made a tomato tartare with squash blossoms, Travis made a seared steak and the tomatoes are also on the plate. Louis made a bouillion with the tomato seeds, Brian made a "toad in the hole" with an egg cooked inside a tomato slice. Patty marinated the tomatoes and added some other fixings on top; you go, home cook.
John Besh says, to no one's surprise, that some of the chefs really impressed him and others did not. The bottom dishes are Patty's, Stephanie's, and Travis's. His favorites are Nina, Carlos, and Louis. The win goes to Nina, for keeping her chilled soup the chilliest. She is doing very well.
Padma introduces the Elimination Challenge , saying the chefs will be bringing the farm to the table in just 90 minutes. They will be cooking at John Besh's restaurant, La Provence, for executive chefs. The dishes will be served family style and must incorporate cream cheese. You know Lea Michele poked her head out of the knothole in a nearby tree at the mention of the word "cheese."
The only dairy available to the chefs will be fresh milk, cream, and cream cheese. Two dairy-centric elimination challenges in a row! I have a RAV4-sized gut ache just thinking about it. The other ingredients will be farm-fresh, local ingredients from the farms of Louisiana, but the chefs may not have heard that part, as all they can think about is how there won't be butter.
Nina gets to choose which course she wants to cook as her prize for winning and she chooses the appetizer course. The rest of the chefs draw knives. The entrée chefs are very nervous. Padma adds on that the winner of this challenge will win $10,000 furnished by Philadelphia Cream Cheese. This challenge could not be less New Orleans-y. Nicholas, who is from Philadelphia, pasteurizes with pride.
Away at the farm, which feels like summer camp, the chefs have a pool party and grill steaks and walk the land. A poll, also taking time out from the competition, asks what is the best campfire food. The viewers vote for S'mores over hot dogs or beans because they're not fools. We learn that Nina, Bene and Travis have all bonded to one another and have been dubbed "the Gossip Girls." Nicholas talks about how he wants to open up his own restaurant and spend more time with his kids.
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The day, the chefs dash into La Provence to see what is in the farm-fresh local pantry. There is lots of cream cheese, of course, and lots of vegetables. I think I saw a fish and heard about some lamb chops. Sara is ready for some accolades, having been swimming in the middle of the pack. She is one of my favorites personality-wise so I want her to stick around, too.
Travis goes on about highlighting textural components and making a unique cream cheese sauce. Louis is nervously making a graham cracker dessert with a "mock bread pudding." And Bene, get it through your head, there is no butter. Butter is dairy, and Padma said the only dairy they can use must be somewhere along the intentional cycle of Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Bene doesn't know what to do with his chicken.
Shirley is working on a custard dessert with blueberries but burns her first batch and has to start over. Nicholas wanted to do a beignet but couldn't find any yeast so he resorts to making funnel cake with a carrot cake mousse. It looks like a big old turd.
John Besh checks in on the kitchen, since Tom couldn't be bothered, and tries to encourage the chefs (to use more cream cheese). After Chef Besh leaves, Sara realizes she does not have enough plan to stuff and cook her lamb loin, but she is trying to stay positive. Travis butchers his lamb a bit incorrectly, and that is also worrisome.
Patty is first to introduce her dish: a snapper crudo on cream cheese. Brian made a garden vegetable and oyster dish on cream cheese, Carlos created a poached beet and carrot spread with a cream cheese sauce. Nina made crispy zucchini blossoms, also with cream cheese. Sara made lamb stuffed with lots of stuff, but definitely cream cheese. The diners get to work, liking Carlos's dish and Nina's blossoms. Brian's oyster is too salty and Sara's lamb falls short.
The entrée chefs present with Bene's roasted chicken breast, Carrie's vinegar-braised chicken, Justin's roasted duck breast and Travis's seared lamb. Carrie's chicken is gutsy but a bit dry and "loopy," Bene's eggplant looks like a wrinkled old face that has been steamed. Travis's lamb is divisive, with uneven cooking. Justin's entrée is the hero, even if it doesn't feature the cream cheese. It's probably refreshing that there is less cream cheese flavor in at least one dish.
The dessert chefs, keeping with Top Chef history, are not feeling confident. Louis made that graham cracker thing, Nicholas made some funnel cake, Shirley made a steamed egg custard that doesn't sound desserty, and Stephanie made mousse and short dough. They decide that Stephanie's dish went awry and she presented whatever she could. Nicholas's funnel cakes go over surprisingly well, while Shirley's custard falls flat. Louis's graham cracker bar is soggy and chewy. Boo dessert.
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In the stew room, few chefs are feeling confident. The monitor comes on to confirm that everyone did pretty poorly at meeting expectations. The judges agree that Nicholas, Nina, and Justin had the most successful dishes. The biggest disappointments were Travis, Bene, Sara, and Stephanie, but really everyone. The three people who didn't suck go in first.
The judges talk to Nina, Nicholas, and Justin about their dishes. Nina is consistently knocking it out of the park. Nicholas is a big surprise with that funnel cake. Justin's dish was very thoughtful and carefully composed. The winner is Nina, much to Nicholas's Philly pride horror. She's on a hot streak.
The chefs in the bottom are Bene, Travis and Sara. Stephanie manages to scrape by, with the judges making excuses for her weird dessert. Sara admits her lamb did not come together like she wanted it to and she had time management issues. Bene's vegetables got steamed and looked like a leathery old face, remember? His dish's components were not connected. Travis, ever defensive, brings up the success of his lamb but Tom calls his dish and vegetables "sloppy." Travis's unique, texture-focused cutting methods did not register or go over well.
Nina is sad, having hitched her wagon to two chefs in the bottom. The odds are good of one of the gossip girls going home. John Besh thinks Sara's dish is the biggest failure, but Gail thinks Travis's vegetables were "miserable" and Padma says he was forgettable. Tom notes that Bene's vegetables were worse, saying he took it from the farm to the cafeteria.
The chefs are called back to the Judge's Table and the viewers can't decide between Sara and Travis who should go home. But they are wrong; Bene is sent packing for his withered old vegetables and not living up to the title of "Bene Tomato."
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