'Top Chef: Las Vegas': Casino tour
Welcome back, readers. Justine and Liz are back and glad to see you survived last week's boring reunion snoozefest (we sat through it so you didn't have to). Our hopes are high for this week's episode since the previews showed Padma in a bathrobe, and we're hoping to see the last of Robin this week. But nothing's ever a guarantee on Top Chef.
Enough bashing the reunion show. On to the cooking!
(Photo of Padma relaxing in a fluffy bathrobe from bravotv.com)
We open with Bryan missing his son – his 22-month-old Thatcher (how'd he come up with that name?) called him by his first name. Justine thought kids didn't start doing that till they were teenagers. We hope Bryan stays strong and doesn't let missing his family make his cooking flounder as so many in the past have.
A fashion moment: Eli wears ripped undershirts. (Liz, of course, swoons)
Quickfire
The chefs go to the Venetian and they get a phone call from Padma who wants room service. They get half an hour and whatever they can find in the kitchen, and they have to serve the food in the suite to Padma and guest judge Nigella Lawson. Eli calls Nigella “legit,” so you know it's somebody you should've heard of (also, she's hot).
Eli says he's not up early and makes a “great hangover breakfast” with his reuben benedict, Nigella says.
Michael is in the second pair of cheftestants to cook in the small kitchen, and he's stuck using Robin's station. Robin left the place a mess, so Michael says he spent 5 min. cleaning and then had only 20 min. left to actually cook.
Liz is most impressed that Michael can break an egg with one hand. Robin and Michael have a little tiff because he's trying to hurry and plate and she's in the way. Despite his distractions in the kitchen, Michael's huevos cubano seems to go over well.
Kevin the Bearded One makes steak and eggs. We're impressed that he has a coffee powder on the beef. He never ceases to amaze us, with his beard or his cooking.
Jen is making cream-chipped beef, or s**t on a shingle as she grew up knowing it. Bryan is making an 4-minute egg with polenta. What is with him and polenta? He's made it for several challenges. Nigella isn't too impressed with Jen's chipped beef. The vanilla is too strong in Bryan's dish, Nigella says. Darn.
On the bottom: Bryan and Robin
On the top: Kevin and Eli (the rueben had “wit”! Liz cheered)
The winner was Eli! (“Weeee!” says Liz)
Eli gets his recipe in the Top Chef Quickfire cookbook (the only one from this season). We figure the cookbook will be out just in time for holiday shoppers. Crafty product placement, Bravo.
Elimination
The cheftestants get to go on a field trip somewhere other than Whole Foods -- they have to create a dish inspired by a casino. They draw knives with the names of casinos on them, and they have to cater for 175 elite guests. (Eli has the crappiest casino of all time: Circus Circus – does that mean he has to make a dish inspired by really crappy hotel rooms?)
It surprises us that Bravo has taken this long to really incorporate Vegas into the show (and no, the actual showgirls at the beginning don't count because they were on the screen about 12.3 seconds).
Michael V. gets New York, New York casino, and he wants to give a tribute to the firefighters of the city. Liz, a New York State native, is upset when he says he wants to make chicken wings as a tribute to New York City firefighters. Chicken wings were originated in Buffalo, which is super far away from NYC. Liz doesn't doubt a NYC firefighter wouldn't appreciate a good wing, but there are many iconic New York City foods that would have fit the challenge better. <end rant>
Jen wears a camo tank top and goes to what looks like Medieval Times (except it's called Tournament of Kings). She has at least two rows to herself (Justine thinks the patrons were afraid of her camo tanktop). It seems like she's had a few too many giant beers to really get any inspiration by the Excalibur casino.
Bryan goes to Mandalay Bay and notices the shark reef and aquarium. There's a sign about sustainable fishing and gets inspired. On his way out, he gets a little shark for his son. Totally adorable.
Robin considers herself an artist and loves the glass exhibits at the Bellagio. (Also, after she draws the Bellagio knife, she says she doesn't know anything about the casino. Hello! It's only one of the most expensive and iconic places on the strip! You knew it was Top Chef: Las Vegas. Do some research before you leave home.)
Bearded Kevin goes to the Mirage and mentioned how it seems like a tropical oasis. HE PETS A DOLPHIN! He says he's committed to slow foods … but we're not sure what that means. He doesn't believe in flashy food, but then he watches fire over the water. You can't escape flashy in Vegas, David the Gnome.
Eli enters Circus Circus and it's definitely the crappiest casino. Eli syas he didn't see one restaurant in the whole place, but Michael V. says they weren't supposed to go to the casinos to be inspired by the food served there. It seems Michael V. is jealous because he thinks Eli's casino has a clear theme that would be fun.
Did you catch the moment in the kitchen where Jen asks Michael V. to be her prince charming?!
Michael V. tries Robin's panna cotta and says it tastes like PB&J. Eli thinks that's “groovy groovy groovy.” Is that going to be your new catch phrase, because it'll be ours.
Judges' table
On the top: Kevin, Michael and Bryan
Kevin made sockeye salmon and there were many “mmms.” The tomato water was “stunning,” says Tom. The compressed vegetables were bright and flavorful.
Michael's boneless chicken wing worried Liz for a while, but the judges liked it (except for Toby, but nobody cares about him). Michael made chicken wings that Tom said were “better than what we're used to.” Toby called his food “effeminate.” Get a life, Toby.
Bryan made halibut, and the judges said the dish has “fantastic balance” and even Toby likes it (OK, so Justine appreciates his opinion when it benefits her TV husband). Nigella said his dish was “quiet and elegant.”
The winner is Michael. He wins a giant bottle of wine and a trip to the Terlato vineyard. (They zoomed in dramatically on the wine as the winners walked back into the stew room. Take that product placement, losing cheftestants!)
On the bottom: Jen, Robin and Eli (so few cheftestants left that everyone goes to judges' table)
Jen's "sword in the stone" beef didn't go over well – the meat was tough. She says she didn't have a clear vision of what she wanted to do. Tom suggested that she use more spices, and Nigella says it was too tough that she couldn't saw through it. (In the stew room Jen says she's ready to go. She's been defeatist for weeks now. Judges, grant her her wish.)
Robin's stained glass panna cotta had “glass” sugar that didn't work, but she talked to the judges about it while she was first serving the dish and even showed it to them (but didn't put it on the plate). That was kinda weird. Random comparison of panna cotta to a 17th-century courtesan's thigh from that minx Nigella. That was also weird. The judges agreed that panna cotta is easy to make and she couldn't make it.
Eli made a caramel apple and peanut soup with popcorn on top. Padma didn't like it at all, and the texture didn't quite work. Toby's canned line of the night is “Like most people who've come to Vegas, he gambled and lost.” (Liz bets that when they told him the season was to be set in Vegas, he spent a week crafting one-liners that we'd all groan at.) The textures ruined the dish, Tom said. Padma didn't like the flavors and said she'd never like to eat it again. (Was the soup hot, or was it chilled? We couldn't tell, not that it would have been much more palatable one way or the other.)
AND ROBIN IS DONE! (Insert cheers of glee that could only be matched by the week Jerkface Mike packed his knives.)
Both Eli and Jen breathe a sigh of relief. Robin cries and says she deserves to be on the show. Robin has somewhat redeemed herself in Liz's eyes though because her poor showing saved Eli from an elimination.
Predictions
Who's going home next: Liz and Justine are in agreement that Jen may be the next to go. The competition is not going well for her, and a few times she's said she wants to go home. Top chefs don't have that kind of defeatest attitude, even though we're not saying the pressure of being on a national cable show wouldn't get to us. Liz thinks Jen may even get to the point where she asks to be sent home.
Favorites: Our loyalties have not wavered. Justine backs Bryan; Liz wants Bearded Kevin to take it all.
As a special treat for our loyal commenters, check out the contest we posted earlier this week where you could win DVDs of Top Chef Season 5 or Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, or a special treat from The Baltimore Sun cookbook library. All you've got to do is share with us a creative idea for an original quickfire challenge (we promise we didn't know Bravo was going to be putting out a cookbook compiling the best QF recipes!). To read the rules and enter, click here.
Discussion
What souvenirs would you get from Vegas for a 22-month-old? What's your favorite Las Vegas casino, and what dish would you make that was inspired by it? Which judge (guest or regular) would you like to share room service and fluffy bathrobes with?
(P.S. Did you see that Padma's a guest on 30 Rock this week? So excited!)
Categories: Maryland reality contestants, Top Chef
Comments
Robin being gone should really revive the rest of the season. It was hard to take all the references to "the top 6" seriously, knowing that one of the 2 or 3 worst chefs of the season was still lingering around fo some unknowable reason.
So, it was amazing to me that someone could create a dish inspired by the Bellagio and not incorporate the fountain. Is it so obvious that it borders on cliche? I don't know, but it's probably my favorite casino (aside from my bygone young-man trips to the Trop). To reflect the fountain and class of the restaurant, I'd make (if I had the technical capacity, that is) a pistachio crusted halibut in a champagne beurre blanc. At least, that was my first thought when Robin said she didn't know anything about the Bellagio.
Did you all watch the next on? Michael has some harsh words for Kevin. Certainly Michael's interpretative and forward dishes are show-stoppers while Kevin's honest, flavorful (so I'm told) dishes are more like elegant comfort food. It seems there's plenty of room for both perspectives, but Michael (apparently) has no respect for Kevin's simple approach. Kinda weak, no?
Anything other than Top 3 or Top 4 doesn't mean a lot to me. They can make a big deal out of being in the Top 10, but I think there are only 13 or so cheftestants a season. Robin was grasping at straws for ways to appear relevant. Thank goodness she's gone and can get back to cooking her "comfort food."
Also, I must say the dish you'd make to represent the Bellagio is heavenly! You're making me wish I had you as a friend and you'd cook that for me for breakfast right now. I consider myself to be a great appreciater of all things Vegas, so when Robin said she didn't know anything about the Bellagio, I was offended. Or at least didn't learn anything about it while in Vegas. I'm sure they drove up and down the strip enough times for her to have seen the fountain show (which, might I add, is best viewed from atop the Eiffel Tower at Paris across the street).
Michael doesn't have much respect for anyone else's kind of food, unless it's deconstructed. I think he's got to find a new target now that Robin's off the show, and unfortunately David the Gnome is in his sights. I wonder if the bearded one heard Michael's harsh comments for him before the previews this week like the rest of America? --Liz
MIchael's attitude has been rubbing me the wrong way the past couple episodes. As the competition gets tougher, he wants to win (as they all do) but he takes it as a personal affront when the judges like something better than what he made.
I wish he were more modest in his approach to the contest. I'm sure the producers egg him on so they can make good television, but he should know better than to play into that. The villain may be a good chef, but if I were a good chef, I might avoid working for or hiring him. --Justine
Posted by: AK | November 12, 2009 12:57 AM
Love your recaps.I can break an egg one handed and I'm not a super competent cook. I learned from watching Sabrina with Audry Hepburn. It's a classic, cooking and how to be stylish. I'm pretty sure Mike tried Eli's soup, it was peanut with a raspberry foam. Do you think that now that Mike I. was gone from the house the rest of the group was nicer to Robin?
Also aren't both the Volt's married? Why does Jen keep flirting with Micheal?
Maybe I'll have to rent that movie, Aud. I don't like eating eggs in the first place (I know, I hear your collective gasp of shock) so learning to break them with finesse hasn't been on my list of things to accomplish.
I don't think people are being nicer to Robin. Remember, Eli and Robin had a scuffle or two over the course of the season. Maybe the producers (thankfully) wanted to give the "Everyone Hates Robin" storyline a rest.
And you're spot on -- both Volts are married. I totally wish I had a DVR because they showed a split second of Jen's program from the Medieval Times-esque show at Excalibur she went to, and one of the knights was colored on in marker and "King Volt" was written above the guy. Anyone else get a better look at that? --Liz
Posted by: Aud | November 12, 2009 1:32 AM
so what do you think...did Nigella have some really bad plastic surgery or is she just using Carol-Hannah as her makeup person when she is in the USA?
i thought it would be eli for sure...i think the judges sent Robin home becaue it was time.
I don't remember what Nigella looks like on a good day, so not sure if this was better or worse for her, appearance-wise. And I completely thought it was Eli. I was about ready to go in my kitchen and pack my own knives in tribute. Maybe they're judging a cheftestant's whole body of work now instead of just one awful-looking peanut soup. I have a hard time believing Eli served that fully intending the judges to love it. Redeem yourself next week, Eli! --Liz
Posted by: dkh735 | November 12, 2009 8:01 AM
Nigella is lovely and all, but can we get rid of all the pretentious, twee Brits next season? I am so bored with their comments - courtesan's thigh, my a$$! (Yeah, it jiggles too!)
Did you catch Tom's smirk when Nigella told us earnestly how she had to rely on all of her (you know, oh so proper British) upbringing not to spit out the food. Since Padma and Tom have both spit out food this season, I think he was amused.
I'm totally over the pretentious Brits, too. None of them will be the next Simon Cowell or guy from America's Got Talent. --Liz
Posted by: Baltofoodie | November 12, 2009 9:25 AM
It was time for Robin to leave, but that's not supposed to be how it works, right? Eli's peanut excrement was terrible in all ways culinary: presentation (a cheapo plastic cup?), appeal, flavors and texture. I'm sorry for all you Eli lovers out there (he's just a spoiled brat, ugly as heck to boot, fer cyring...) but he should have went home based on his performance for THAT "dish", or at least for that vomit cup from an airplane...
Jen has crumbled like one of those big building destructions in Vegas! Her 2-bottle wine reduction ended up looking like a worm-trail, and the meat was so poorly cut and prepared, I'm not sure I can even find a comparative in the canned food isle!
The Volts are consistently worth their pay, and Kevin's dishes seem as tasty as ever, but I do think he could benefit from some higher-end presentation training.
Toby is like Robin, really: nobody likes him (it seems), and he's not even that good at what he does. Compare his "abrasive" style to Bourdain's... which one do you prefer? ;) Why is Toby on the show, again?
Tom needs to learn of few more prefab lines, but Padma is as yummy as ever!
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Eli should have gone home for whatever that soup was (Gordon Ramsay would have most certainly called it "baby vomit"). You're right about all the reasons it was a bad dish, but I'm not sure they have any choice of containers to serve the dishes in when they're catering an event. No one would want to wash out china from 175 half-eaten or barely touched bowls of "soup."
And on your question of who's the better "mean" judge, Toby or Bourdain -- At least Bourdain can be interesting in what he has to say and the words he used to convey his point. Toby's either incomprehendable or using some trite line that you've heard a million times before. I prefer Tom without the canned lines. It's almost as if Toby can't even intelligently comment on the merits of the food itself. --Liz
Posted by: Christian | November 12, 2009 10:14 AM
Is it just me or was this one of the most boring episodes ever? With only five chefs and on cheftestant you would think more attention could actually be paid to the cooking, but no we get gnomes stroking dolphins and a rambette watching what appeared to be people staging the cover of "Their Santanic Majesties Request".
Then there was the random product placement montage with a shot of Whole Foods and the M Resort. M feeling jealous because nobody got to say at the beginning of the show, "Let's all go to the M Resort." Though less dr pepper, swanson broth or some sort of chips I will never eat.
Despite their protests I believe the judges/producers are at this stage are choosing winners/ sending people home to fit their agenda. We all know that Yukon Cornelius and the Volts are the top three, so they are just going to keep rotating the elimination winners for the next two weeks to create drama.
By the way I was intrigued by the editing that had Mike say after Toby called his food effiminate, "I like to have my personality on the plate".
I want to have insightful responses to your comments, but I can't stop laughing at the Yukon Cornelius reference. For those of you who need a visual of the character from the animated Rudolph special: http://builttobe.typepad.com/photos/screenfoto/img_0179.jpg
--Liz
Posted by: Trip Klaus | November 12, 2009 11:21 AM
To weigh in on the important debate of the day, I don't think Mike Volt is married. I used the magical DVR and checked...he doesn't wear a ring, at least. So, Jen doesn't think he's married, therefore, she flirts with him? Enough with the Bam Bams and Prince Charmings! Cook, woman, cook! You can do it!
Having said that, unfortunately, I think Jen is the next to go. Followed by the unpredictable Eli? I didn't see the previews of the next show. How can anyone pick on loveable Kevin?
I hate to disagree, Jenny, but I could have sworn in a past episode when he was talking about his kid(s) he mentioned a wife. I think Jen's just easily distracted by anything these days. Did you see how much fun she was having at the Medieval Times knock-off? --Liz
Posted by: Jenny from NJ | November 12, 2009 11:24 AM
Bryan can make polenta for me any time! And...I was worried for Liz that Eli might be the one going this week. Heh.
Thanks for being worried for me and indulging my TV crush, Kathy. --Liz
Posted by: Kathy | November 12, 2009 11:44 AM
what was that restaurant overlooking the skylines of the old and new vegas strips?
Is that the one where they served the elimination challenge foods? I don't remember if they said where that one is, and it's been eons since I've been to Vegas to know the lay of the land out there. Can anyone else help? --Liz
Posted by: deed | November 12, 2009 12:11 PM
I believe it was the roof of the World Market Center, where they presented their dishes.
Thanks, Kathy. World Market Center didn't have it on their Web site, but the Wikipedia said that's where it happened. Yet another reason for me to go to Vegas. --Liz
Posted by: Kathy | November 12, 2009 1:37 PM
Jennifer better keep her mitts off of Mike V! Haha
Seriously, she is ready to go. I'm done with her and unimpressed lately.
Way to go Volt --and Kevin. The obvious top 3.
I caught the prince charming thing and was stunned! Also saw the program, I think she had everyones face on it.
And sorry but could Padma be anymore annoying? Wow. Its excruciating to listen to her anymore. "I cant ever put that soup in my mouth again". Well good for you that you only take small bites of everything every week. Ugh
I've never been a Jen fan, and her downfall has been obvious to everyone. She'll probably be out in the next two episodes (it's a toss-up to see if Eli or Jen makes a mistake first), so I can be patient.
Liz got a better look at the program than I did (I was typing) -- did it have the cheftestants' faces or just their signatures?
Padma's still less annoying than Toby, so until he gets the boot, I can't complain about her. --Justine
Posted by: lore | November 12, 2009 2:25 PM
I had never heard of a 4 minute egg...but it sure was pretty...
Posted by: Sally V | November 12, 2009 2:55 PM
Did you notice that both Bryan and Mike looked like they had been crying in some of their confessionals? I don't think Jen or Eli is the next to go.
I have the hardest time deciding if people's eyes are just red or they're really crying.
When Liz and I started to work together, I would sometimes see her very watery eyes and think she'd been crying about something. Weeks later I realized she put eye drops in many afternoons because staring at the computer screen all day can be painful. Oops.
Anyway, it might make for more drama if one of the brothers doesn't make it to the top three. I hope it doesn't happen though (or that Michael would go). --Justine
Hmm, I wonder if you're right, Justine, and the Volts are eyedrop addicts like me! In all seriousness, you think one of them would really screw up so royally that they'd be sent home? If they were crying, it's not necessarily because one of them went home. They all have a pretty strong bond with Jen, so maybe they'd be that distraught to see her go. --Liz
Posted by: Jude74 | November 12, 2009 4:27 PM
Mike V mentioned his kids but not a wife, think he's divorced. Bryan has mentioned a wife and his son. Jen, in the very 1st episode has mentioned she does stupid stuff when drinking, so, hope she isn't drowning her sorrows in the Glad Sorrow Room. She looks rough in the mornings. I wish Bryan had won the challenge, I think his confidence is being chipped at. Unlike Michael, who wears his emotions on his sleeve about being pissed that Kevin keeps winning stuff, Bryan is holding it all in. You can see in his reaction shots that he's pained when Kevin or Michael beat him head to head.
I hope Jen gets her groove back.
Padma is on 30 Rock tonight.
I'd like to think that Bryan looks pained because he didn't win, not that somebody else beat him -- he seems the type that wants to do his best in everything. Or maybe that's just me projecting my version of The Perfect Man onto his TV chef persona.
Your "Glad Sorrow Room" made me laugh. I'm hoping she goes home before my Bryan, and for Liz's sake, I'll pull for Eli over her, too. --Justine
Thanks for the Eli backing, Justine, even if it does seem half-hearted. I kid.
Padma on 30 Rock was great. They mentioned Top Chef several times in the episode, and Padma mentioned becoming a mommy but unfortunately she was wearing such a slimming black dress and sitting down most of the time so I didn't get a good look at her baby bump. How far along is she now? Maybe they should do a Top Chef baby food challenge in honor of Padma's new bundle of joy. --Liz
Posted by: tnsmoke | November 12, 2009 5:02 PM
...a lot of really bizarre editing last night. Jen seemed to be drunk during the whole episode. That comment about Mike V's food being “effeminate.” What was that all about? And on the subject of Mike V, did he flunk geography in school or just skip class because he was too busy making foams? NYC is to chicken wings as Buffalo is to the Statue of Liberty. Just becuase Buffalo is in NY doesn't mean it is New York City, as Liz already pointed out. And still on the subject of Mike V, he was awfully animated last night, walking, talking, gesturing, smiling (maybe)...very unlike the Mike V they have been painting all season. One of my viewing companions calls him the tweaker...'nuff said.
And on the subject of polenta, when I had dinner at Abercrombie while Jesse was still the exec chef (yes, I'm a jerkface namedropper), my chili relleno was served atop what my guy Fabio would call a "zweet corn cake." It was a wonderful surprise at the bottom of the bowl. More polenta, less pining away for your family. And it seemed like Yukon Cornelius (just had to do it...priceless comment!!!) got a haircut. Either the guys trying to keep from being bored by doing each other's hair or that interview was filmed after the show...can you say continuity problems? Eli should have been gone, but am so relieved that it was Robin. I still say YukonC will win the whole thing. Let's see...did I pick on them all? I secretly wish at least one of the cheftestants reads these comments.
Thanks for having my back, dkh, on the Buffalo is not New York City thing. You should have seen how ticked off I got. I think I may have actually yelled at the TV. Any "upstate" New Yorkers (basically, anything that's not NYC) out there get the same annoyed feeling?
"More polenta, less pining away for your family" -- priceless. You're making me want to make polenta this weekend. And when we were at dinner at Abacrombie, I remember thinking whether the stuffed pepper was inspired by the losing dish by the original Jennifer (with the huge loops in her ears) since it was shortly after that episode.
As for your continuity errors, remember when Ilia from Marcel's season of TC came back to the finale with SUPER SHORT hair because she shaved her head when the cheftestant guys did it? And how during one of the talking head interviews she took off the wig they were making her wear for continuity? No real observation there, I just wanted to pull one of my fave TC moments out the vault.
That is all. I can wear myself out trying to address all of your points, dkh. --Liz
Posted by: dkh735 | November 12, 2009 6:24 PM
Trip Klaus
I'm pretty sure he's married. Most people that work with their hands don't wear their rings. I've worked in labs and restaurants, no one wears their rings, chemicals are bad for them. It actually maybe against health codes to wear jewelry while handling food, so he probably just left it at home.
Personally I hope Jen goes home, because her hair keeps scaring me, i couldn't believe in the last episode when they went out and her hair looked like she had electrocuted herself.
Maybe she's subtly trying to get a nickname to rival Picasso -- Einstein!
I hadn't thought about the rings for restaurant kitchen workers. Good point. --Justine
Sure, it may be against health codes to wear jewlery on your hands while cooking, but explain to me the crazy face piercings!?! --Liz
Posted by: Aud | November 12, 2009 10:41 PM
As much as I like Jen-- and I do-- it has been so much fun watching her slowly implode over the past few eps. The girl's a mess! (But an entertaining mess.)
That said, I hope she pulls herself together next week.
I still don't get people's loyalty to Jen. She was competent in the first half of the season, and I agree that it can be fun to watch someone's downfall, but usually those don't go together. What makes you like her? --Justine
Posted by: Flipkid | November 13, 2009 7:31 AM
"I still don't get people's loyalty to Jen. She was competent in the first half of the season, and I agree that it can be fun to watch someone's downfall, but usually those don't go together. What makes you like her?"
Good question, Justine, and I'm not sure how to answer. When she was doing really well in the first half of the season, I DIDN'T like her; she seemed sort of aloof and smug. But it was obvious that she really could cook.
Then when she started falling apart--and exacerbated it by beating herself up-- she sort of became more human.
I think that I'm rooting for her because it appears that she is possibly as good a cook as the V brothers and Kevin (and better than Eli), but she has a better personality than Mike V or Eli. So-- if her cooking is up to it-- I'd like to see her in the Final Four.
Posted by: Flipkid | November 13, 2009 9:57 AM
I too believe Mike is or was married which is why I thought the comment and editing were odd. However, this brings up a question I've had for a long time. Why do so many chefs wear thumb rings ie. Bourdain? If the chemicals hurt one finger why not the other?
Have you seen Bourdain wear a thumb ring when cooking, or just during "No Reservations"? Maybe he's just being a rebel. --Liz
Posted by: Trip Klaus | November 13, 2009 10:21 AM
I agree with Christian - Eli deserve to be chopped if the competition was being judged solely on that dish and not his body of work. One thing about Eli is he really slandered Circus Circus when he said there was no food there - On the contrary The Steakhouse at the Circus Circus is consistently ranked at or near the top of all the Vegas steakhouses and - the food there is unbelievably good and the atmosphere is classic old Vegas. Eli could have focused on old school Vegas and done something that plays on the old school buffet staples like Prime Rib and lobster tail. I just feel like if he had explored the CIrcus Circus enough to eat at their signature restaurant The Steakhouse, he might have seen a world of new possibilities instead of the junk he served!
Maybe he didn't see any food when he was there. It seemed they kept him to the arcade parts of the CIrcus Circus complex. If you'll notice, they didn't show Bryan exploring everything at Mandalay Bay, just the shark reef. While that could have just been creative editing, maybe they purposely kept the cheftestants to limited areas of the casinos. I'm also a fan of the old-school Vegas cheapie buffet. That would have been a much more inspired (and probably edible) idea. --Liz
Posted by: Jim Traber | November 13, 2009 11:16 AM
When have you ever seen him cooking?
Okay that was mean but in People Bourdain says his was given to him by a sous chef and all of the chefs wore them. I have noticed some of the cheftestants wearing them although I can't tell you for sure which ones maybe even Baltimore's own Jesse. Just wondered if it was a true cooking thing or just a trend among chefs.
Posted by: Trip Klaus | November 13, 2009 11:18 AM
Great recap as usual! I'm so glad Robin's finally gone...she should've been gone a few challenges ago. I was actually worried for a second that it would be Eli or Jenn cuz they really ripped their dishes apart. Based on that, it does feel like they based their elimination this week on Robin's previous failures, not just on this one challenge. I must admit though, I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for her as she started crying since it was obvious that even before they said her name she knew her number was up.
I think Jenn will be the next to go. You know, I actually started out really disliking her because she came off as being really bitchy and arrogant, but she has since redeemed herself in my eyes due to her sad self-defeatist attitude and almost painful lack of confidence. She really is her own worse critic and I think that will be the thing to do her in.
I would get a cute stuffed animal for a 22 month old. I don't have a favorite casino in Vegas, but even if I did, since I can't cook worth crap, I wouldn't be able to create any dish for it. I like Padma and Tom a lot, but still not enough to get that cozy with them (Mattin is another matter though. Yum!). And I did catch Padma on 30 Rock...her bit was cute and funny, but waaay too short. They should've written her in as Jack Donaghey's (sp) new love interest instead, pregnant and all.
See you next week!
HA! Thanks for making me fondly recall Mattin. I should find my own jaunty red scarf I wore before he got kicked off and make sure I've got it on hand for the finale. Maybe he'll come back as a sous chef for the finalists, like they've done in seasons past. --Liz
Posted by: Anonymous | November 13, 2009 8:31 PM
Trip Klaus
Sorry about any confusion I may have caused, I was actually responding to Jenny from NJ comment. I served in a chain restaurant, so am not familiar with any traditions a Chef of Bourdain stature.
Liz if you have cable has on demand, Top Chef is free and I think you can pause. About you not liking eggs, I tend to only crack an egg when making brownies or cake, usually from a box.
I have super basic cable, so no on demanding for me. I'll just have to glue myself to the couch for a marathon or something to catch what I've missed. --Liz
Posted by: Aud | November 13, 2009 11:21 PM