Top Chef - 5/14/08

Richard has a pair of pink crocs, and I can't like him as much as I did before I knew that. Spike calls Dale a little bitch, and I kind of agree. Andrew claims that he woke up with a fire in his belly, and either he is going to stab somebody, or make some amazing food. He sure is amazing.

Sam from Season 2 is the guest judge this week. Fun. Their quickfire is to make a salad. Sam doesn't seem overly excited to be there. Spike claims that he is making a salad that screams "Let's go have sex" after eating it. Interesting.

Antonia is making a "fatty salad." Stephanie has plating problems, and forgets her artichoke chip.

Andrew's offering is a Thai Fruit salad with mangoes, strawberries, rasperries, and a sirracha dressing.

Spike's is a "Sensual Steak Salad."

Lisa's is grilled squid and lobster tail with banana weird.

Stephanie's is a Fall duet with pears and artichokes.

Antonia's is a poached egg and sunchoke salad with bacon vinagrette. Mmmm.

Richard's is a "Fresh & Clean" salad.

Dale's is a poached chicken salad with nori.

Richard, Stephanie, and Lisa end up in the bottom. Lisa looks angry at being there.

Spike, Antonia, and Dale end up on the top. Spike won it, though. He was thrilled at his first win. Though there is no immunity this week, he will get a "significant advantage."

The Challenge of the week starts with a bunch of fast food being wheeled in. They have to make gourmet boxed lunches for the police academy. Spike gets 10 minutes extra shopping, and one ingredient in each food group to have for himself alone.

He chooses chicken breast, tomatoes, bread, and lettuce. Oh, that's so mean. Antonia says "If he's not using those tomatoes tomorrow, he's going straight to hell." He is kind of devious that way. Andrew is not worried, because he says he picked the most dumbed down ingredients in the store, and the only people who will have a problem with that are "dumb people." Lisa is making something with shrimp, and I don't know how well shrimp will do in a lunch box. Andrew gets kind of obnoxious about his choices, because he thinks he has it in the bag.

Antonia is making a curried beef, and that sounds good. Andrew is making a sushi type roll with parsnip and pinenut puree instead of rice. He's into raw food. Interesting. I wonder how that will go over with police cadets. Dale is making Vietnamese style cabbage cups with bison. Lisa's making a veggie stir fry with brown rice and shrimp. Stephanie is making a mushroom leek soup with potatoes. Sounds yummy. Spike is making a chicken salad. Richard is making lentil, tuna, quinoa burritos. I made some lentil burritos last week, and they were delicious. We'll see.

Someone turned Lisa's rice up to high, and that's crazy sabotage if it is sabotage. Others (Stephanie and Dale) say in their confessionals that they don't think it was, just a mistake. She tried to fix it, I don't think it will work out that well for her.

They pack up and go to the police academy! Everyone got to set up a table with their box lunches, and they have to sell their meals. Richard annoys everyone with his showmanship. Spike is only putting two of his meals on the table at a time to make them look like they are in high demand. I like him much less after this week. He's severely obnoxious.

The judges find Spike's sequestering of the tomatoes, lettuce, and bread unnecessary, since he didn't do anything with them, and Padma called the chicken salad "pedestrian."

Andrew is railed for not using a whole grain, and the judges think his sushi-like thing is just strange.

Richard's burrito went over well, and people seemed surprised about it.

Lisa's rice-saving attempt is not good, but people seem to like her hot sauce.

Dale and Stephanie were pulled into the Judge's table first. They were named the top two. Dale's bison was really good. Stephanie's soup was delicious according to the judges. Dale is a winner, and I think he deserved it this week. He may be annoying, but he seems to be able to cook if he is not taking all the responsibility onto himself.

The bottom three are Spike, Andrew, and Lisa. Andrew is chided for not using a grain, and for not having a very substantial meal. Andrew tries to school the judges on the benefits of eating every three hours, so you don't need to have something substantial. He got really defensive about the dish, and said that he wanted to get the cops to eat in a healthier way. Tom zinged him by saying "how about making it taste good?" ouch.

Spike was chided for grabbing the tomatoes and bread and lettuce and not really using them. They also didn't like his grapes and olives in the chicken salad, and he got really snappy at Tom for "not understanding salty and sweet." Yeah, that's not going to make you any friends.

Lisa is criticized for her undercooked rice, her undercooked veggies, and her undercooked shrimp. She brings up that she believes someone tampered with her pot of rice, and Tom said that her shrimp wasn't done either. Then, she says that "some people" didn't follow the rules of the challenge, and Andrew got really upset with her and went a little postal on her.

"Wow, Lisa sure had a lot to say," the judges agree before their deliberation. Lisa seems always ready to blame other people, or the challenge, or the gremlins in the kitchen, for her failings. I don't know about her. Andrew is called out for being arrogant about his "nutritional education." In the holding room, Andrew and Lisa had a little pissing contest. Lisa just always looks pissed. Andrew is sent home this week, and Lisa doesn't look any happier to be staying.

I will miss Andrew for his quotable moments. He sure was memorable. Spike bemoans the loss of his last buddy. He says they will be boys forever. I assume he means that with a capital B, not that they are safe from possible gender re-assignment.