Top Chef 12.3.08

Alex misses Richard. Since we have barely seen Alex at all yet, I don't so much care that he misses Richard, but Richard left a nice letter, which Alex read to Carla and Jamie. Jamie is the final remaining Team Rainbow member, and she is ok with that.

Quickfire Challenge

Rocco DiSpirito is with Padma, and the Quickfire is breakfast. They have to create a breakfast amuse bouche. Jamie is not excited, since she never even ate breakfast as a child, opting instead for Chef Boyardee. Mmmmm. :P

And Rocco loves bacon.

Mmmm, bacon.

The Cheftestants went for it. It was an egg filled madhouse.

Melissa - French Toast with eggs, strawberries, bacon. This went over well.

Stefan - Huevos Rancheros with Salsa and Cheese. Served in an egg shell. Very cute. I love huevos rancheros, so I like this idea.

Radhika - Potato cake with a little omelet with bacon and holandaise. No real reaction from the judges on that one.

Daniel - Cornflake crusted zucchini flour stuffed with hash. Rocco mentioned that you have to be careful with cornflakes because they are sweet. Not sure that one's a good one.

Ariane - Stuffed French Toast with Chili Maple Syrup. This went over well.

Jamie - BLT Breakfast sandwich. This looked delicious. Not bad for a girl who didn't like breakfast.

Leah - Bacon, Quail Egg, Cheese, on toast. Yummy.

Fabio - Brioche with Brulee banana and Espresso Cream.

Jeff - Twice baked potato & yogurt sorbet with fruit.

I'm not sure if the cheftestants understand the concept of Amuse Bouche. Daniel's weird flower and Fabio's pudding-like espresso cream were at the bottom. Stefan, Leah, and Jamie were on top. Jamie and Leah would win if it was possible to pick two winners, but since that's not possible, the win is Leah's. I think that's proper, since her bite was a better size.

Elimination Challenge

The Cheftestants have to create a dish for a 2 1/2 minute presentation suitable for Live TV. Has this become Next Food Network Star? They have to do a presentation for the judges, and then the winner "gets something special." They have to create something that is easy for the home chef, and they will be graded on their presentation skills. Fabio is nervous.

They had $100 and 30 minutes to shop. Fabio grabbed the tuna and went back into the seafood counter and cut the tuna himself. Eugene (who we did not see in the Quickfire) and Hosea went back behind the counter to cut some fish for sushi. Alex (who we also did not see in the quickfire) is doing dessert. What is up with the editing out people in the Quickfire? Have they always done that and I just notice it more now that I'm blogging it? Does anyone know?

Alex's Creme Brulee is not looking too promising, because it has to cook, then cool and rest... questionable. Jamie is doing a frisee salad and a fried duck egg. Carla is making a tortilla soup. Ariane is doing a salad with watermelon. Daniel has aspirations to be like Bobby Flay. Keep that dream alive, Daniel.

And it's time for the demonstrations!

Ariane - Beefsteak tomato salad with feta and watermelon, with basil oil. She seemed to do ok, though we didn't see the whole thing.

Jamie - Salad with duck egg, bacon, and caviar. She had to plate before the white was completely set up, and that is disappointing.

Alex - Rose infused creme brulee. He was visibly shaking, and ran out of time. The looks on the judge's faces when they tasted it were not promising.

Jeff - Malfouf roll with shrimp & mummamora sauce. It looked pretty good. On a complete side note, does anyone else do a double take when the title comes up for Jeff being a chef at the Dilido Spa? Just saying. A quick glance, and that looks like something entirely different... but I digress.

Fabio - Tuna with roasted carrots and asparagus salad.

Daniel - Gingered soy skirt steak with cabbage salad. Lots of smoke, but it went over well.

Stefan - Minestrone soup and a complete swap out for his soup. Very tv-worthy.

Hosea - Crispy tuna roll with wasabi peas. Interesting.

Eugene - Tuna shashimi with pea shoot salad.

Melissa - Blackened habenero shrimp. Too spicy even for Padma and Tom. Not good!

Carla - Tortilla soup and she ran out of time.

Radhika - Sweet shrimp and Cucumber salad and she ran out of time.

Leah - Duck breast with corn and blueberry hash and SHE ran out of time! She admitted that she didn't ever want to do live television.

Judge's table.

Jamie's egg was not done, so that was not appetizing. Leah was lucky to have immunity, because she was completely uncomfortable. Alex's decision to make creme brulee was a bad one. Carla was all over the place, and not good. Daniel's dish was very good, but he mugged for the camera too much. Stefan's dish was good, and the swap out was smart, but his personality was lacking. Melissa's too hot to eat shrimp didn't exactly have appeal to the television masses. Jeff tried to do a lot and pulled it off. They loved Fabio and his personality. Ariane also did super. They said that the quality of the food is the most important.

Melissa, Alex, and Jamie are headed in for the bottom three. Jeff, Fabio, and Ariane are in the Top three.

And without any sort of decisions, they were dismissed until the morning. Wonder if they ever do that otherwise.

Alex is apparently getting married in 20 days, and may not be super excited to stay in the game.

And it's 2 AM. Tom roused sleepy Ariane, Jeff, and Fabio, and told them that they have to present their dishes to the Today Show, and the hosts will be choosing the winner. That's awesome. They are cooking next door to the Today Show set. Jeff was pretty down on the Today Show hosts - saying they had "unsophisticated pallates," and was not excited. I daresay the hosts are probably better traveled than Blond Boy, so he needs to shut it.

It's Meredith Viera, Kathy Lee, Hota, and Natalie. It's the late Today Show Crew. Ariane is in trouble, because watermelon makes Meredith sick. Kathy Lee gagged on Jeff's. Not good. But, she IS Kathy Lee.

Ariane is the winner, even with the watermelon, and that is awesome for her. It sounded like a good mix of flavors. Maybe Ariane has hit her stride and will stop sucking. She won a collection of Rocco's favorite chef's tools for winning, along with the honor of presenting a dish live on the Today Show the morning after this episode airs. That would be tomorrow. I'll have to check it out.

And now for the important part. Who's going home?

Melissa stands by her shrimp, which Rocco called inedible and beyond belief. Padma said it made her mouth throb, and Gayle said that habenero isn't something you want home cooks to be messing with. Jamie fully admitted her egg mistake, and her body language was off putting, but she stood up for herself pretty well. Alex's decision to make creme brulee was a bad one. Melissa half threw Alex under the bus, without naming names. I am not sure who I want to go home. Melissa's defensiveness about her spiciness was not taken well. They said there was no way Alex could have done his dish in time properly.

Before we find out the cheftestant's fate, we got to see some Sharpie-infused flirting between Hosea and Leah. It was another of those little mid-commercial moments.

And in the end, it's Alex's time to go. So, now he can focus on getting married. I think it was a wise decision. Melissa needs an attitude adjustment, though. Seriously.

Next week, looks like they are cooking for Gayle's Bridal Shower. Fun!