The Season 5 cheftestants arrive in New York City. A few of the cheftestants have never been to the big city and are having a Beverly Hillbillies moment. Like me, Richard wonders what Padma will be wearing, but he tries to make it sound as if it's really the "queens back home" who are really into Padma's sartorial presentation. Later, as expected, Richard shares his lust for Tom "Papa Bear" Colicchio and especially his gorgeous blue peepers. The cheftestants ferry over to Governor's Island and are are greeted by Padma and Tom when they disembark from the ferry.
Quickfire: The cheftestants will compete in three rounds, the twist: the loser of the Quickfire will be eliminated.
Round 1 -Peel 15 apples with a knife. The first 9 who peel the apples to Tom's satisfaction are safe. Stefan finishes first and earns immunity.
Round 2 - Brunoise (finely chop) two cups of apples. The first 4 are safe.
Round 3 - The remaining 4 must cook an apple dish to be judged by Tom.
The bottom two are Patrick and Lauren, friends from culinary school. Lauren is eliminated.
Elimination Challenge: Create a dish based on the area of New York selected from the knife draw. Each ethnic dish will be served head to head to the judges. Legendary Chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten of the eponymous Jean-Georges in New York City served as guest judge.
| Cuisine | Cheftestants |
| Middle Eastern (Long Island City) | Ariane3 and Stefan1, 2 |
| Greek | Jamie and Richard |
| Jamaican | Jill and Radhika |
| Latin (Ozone Park) | Fabio and Jeffrey |
| Russian (Brighton Beach) | Hosea and Carla |
| Italian (Little Italy) | Leah2 and Melissa |
| Chinese (Chinatown) | Daniel and Patrick3,4 |
| Indian | Alex and Eugene2 |
| Bold Type denotes winner of the head to head competition. 1Winner, 2Top 3, 3 Bottom 3, 4 Eliminated. | |
Stefan beats out Leah and Eugene for the win. Tom brings up that three of the past four winners won the first elimination challenge. Ariane lives to see another day in the Top Chef kitchen and Patrick and his knives are sent packing. Two CIAers sent packing on Day One, I doubt if they are happy in those hallowed halls.
Tom declares that the cheftestants are off to a good start and if this represents what they are capable of then this a strong group of competitors. We shall see,,, in the previews we see some indications that the judges will partake of some not so good chow.
Memorable Cheftestants: Richard gave good narration; Ariane was whiny; Eugene wants to prove that he can run with the big dogs . He is my favorite thus far, but I am very fickle with my affections. I will be disappointed if Jeff doesn't live up to his "I'm so vain" proclamation.
Best Looking Judge: Tom and his Baby Blues win.
1 comment:
I am kinda perplexed that Patrick went home over Ariane.
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