Now that we went through a pretty painful Restaurant Wars, it’s time to make the remaining chefs cry. Sara went home, which was the right move but I’m not happy about it because she had a pretty good personality. Travis, who had a rough start, is starting to feel like he’s one of the guys now. He’s not the only gay chef in the house, but being gay is one of his many things.
The chefs rolled into the kitchen to see Hubert Keller, a renowned French chef. He’s a big deal, particularly in the Top Chef world. Padma says that for this challenge, it’s time for a cup of Joe… Top Chef style. Oh, so it’s a Dunkin’ Donuts sponsored challenge. For this one, the chefs will use Dunkin’ Donuts coffee as the featured ingredient in their dishes. The winner gets $10,000 for practically no reason at all?!
The chefs charge toward the coffee and start crafting their dishes. We learn that it’s important to balance the coffee when making savory dishes with it. Visions of hundos dance in their heads as they grind and reduce the beans. Stephanie is not good at Quickfires, and this dish is no exception. Brian is making a risotto, which is a cursed dish on this show and any cooking show that I can think of. Nina thinks her biggest competition is Nicholas. And with that, the thirty minutes is up.
Travis’s dish is first. He made salmon with coffee mushrooms or something. Carrie made a coffee custard with candied coffee beans and cocoa nibs. Brian made the dreaded risotto with sausage and coffee in there somewhere. Carlos made a sponge cake with coffee mascarpone. His sounded the best. The dish belongs to Nicholas, who made a sockeye salmon with a hazelnut, coffee, and white chocolate emulsion. Padma tells Nick there’s a lot of coffee in there.
Shirley works the Asian angle with a coffee crusted tenderloin with a garlic puree. Stephanie crafted a sweet potato and goat cheese sauce on a coffee crepe with a bacon and coffee ham-jam. They deem it "interesting." Hubert says that Brian’s doomed risotto and Nicholas’s coffee-heavy emulsion are on the bottom. Shirley’s surprising coffee-garlic pairing, Carrie’s custard, and Stephanie’s weird crepe come out on top. Shirley is the winner of this challenge and way too much money for a tenderloin.
Padma moves things right along and says for the elimination challenge, going home is a good thing. She brings out actor and New Orleans native Anthony Mackie, who says he loves to eat in New Orleans. Great tie-in, guys. This challenge is to make a dish inspired by what they crave when they go home. The chefs will be serving their hometown dishes at Dooky Chase for Anthony Mackie and Leah Chase.
The chefs run excitedly into a Whole Foods. Justin is doing a Cajun chicken thigh dish inspired by squirrel meat. Carrie is making creamed asparagus on toast with an egg. Nina is making an island dish with curried chicken and fried dough. Nicholas is making a ricotta gnocchi because his daughter calls them "nudie." (It's a long story, kinda weird). Stephanie is making mussels and broth because she used to make it for her family, who was rocking the King Curtis Diet.
Carlos is making pork shanks wrapped in banana leaves, which is a traditional dish in Mexico. Brian is making a steak with his mom’s special marinade. Travis is making a giant cookie cake that says "I’M GAY" on it, followed by, “" KNOW THE MOST ABOUT VIETNAMESE FOOD." Just kidding, he’s making biscuits and gravy. Tom walks in to the kitchen to check on everyone’s dishes and raise his eyebrows at their choices. So far we’re keeping an eye on Travis’s biscuits, Shirley’s execution and Brian’s potato salad.
Back at the Top Chef house, Emeril is making his mom’s green soup for them. Brian cries and opens up about his father. They must be so tired. Nina and Nicholas are really missing home. Everyone is so sad for this challenge.
The homesick chefs arrive at Dooky Chase to finish up their dishes. We pay close attention to Justin’s rice, so that’s another thing to watch for. Brian is putting his steaks on the skillet because there’s no grill. Travis wants to make the perfect biscuit. Shirley has immunity so she’s going to take a risk and go super-traditional.
Travis’s biscuits come out and while they look good on the outside, they are too wet on the inside, almost raw. This is devastating for him and now it’s "make it work" time. Travis is going to make up for it by pouring his gravy over the top. You can’t hide things with gravy, though. Tom will know.
Carlos presents his dish first: a cochinita pibil with black beans. Brian’s ode to his parents is Korean style steak and potatoes. Travis presents his biscuits and gravy and it just does not look good. The diners agree that they like the flavors in Travis’s dish but that biscuit is raw as hell. Carlos’s pork dish is delicious and Brian’s marinade is a little sweet without charcoal from the grill.
Nicholas is plating and worried about getting his dish out because it’s so personal and he has so many emotions and he doesn’t want to over-salt the dish with tears. He barely makes it through the presentation, choking up when he says this is his daughter’s favorite dish. He presents the ricotta gnudi and passes it off to Shirley, who offers her Beijing noodles. Stephanie presents her focaccia and mussels in a peppery balsamic broth.
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Padma says Nick’s dish is so soft it melts in your mouth (and his story melted their hearts). Anthony Mackie says he wishes he was Nick’s daughter. Shirley’s noodles have a nice flavor and no one struggles too much with the chopsticks. Stephanie’s combination is good and original.
Finally, Justin, Carrie, and Nina present their dishes. Justin prepared Louisiana rice and chicken thigh gravy, Carrie presents her creamed asparagus over toast with a poached egg, and Nina has her curried chicken with fried bakes. The judges like Carrie’s home-style dish, and want more of Nina’s but maybe a little more rice. Justin’s dish is salty but needs more gravy.
The chefs return, emotional, to the stew room. The monitor comes on and they are pleased to find that the judges really liked their dishes. It helps when you cook from the heart. The standouts were Carlos, Nina, Stephanie, and Carrie. Travis’s gravy was nice (the biscuits were not), Brian’s jous was good, Shirley’s noodles rocked, and Nicholas’s gnocchi were on point. So everyone did well. Stephanie, Carlos, and Nicholas go in and it could mean anything. Fortunately for them, they had the best dishes of the night.
Nicholas warmed their hearts and bellies. His dish was executed perfectly, Emeril says, noting that they could feel the love. Stephanie tells the story of the mussels and they call her dish “brilliant” with a different point of view. Everyone shares that they wanted to hold on to every last bite of Carlos’s dish and the only thing missing was tequila. That sounds good. This is the first time I have really wanted to taste the food on this show. Anthony Mackie announces that Nicholas is the winner, but that he is also one of the most stressed out people and needs to take a breath.
Travis, Brian, and Justin are called before the judges, even though everyone’s dish was really good. Travis had some messed up biscuits, Brian’s marinade was too sweet, and Justin’s dish was tentative. Brian’s flavors were lacking, and the cut of meat wasn’t quite right. Travis’s biscuits are under fire . He admits he was not happy with the biscuits but the dish was just too close to home. Anthony Mackie generously tells Travis that jam with biscuits and gravy is an exciting change. Justin’s dish isn’t his strongest and he was cooking for Louisiana. They wanted more gravy, Justin.
No one had a terrible dish, but it’s down to nitpicking. Someone will be sent home for cooking from the heart. In the end, it’s Travis who must pack his knives and go. He says you live and die by the biscuit and he knew what he was getting into. The viewing and voting audience gives Travis a solid C+ for his performance on Top Chef. Way to be ambivalent, folks.
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