Top Chef has narrowed down its search to 5 competitors. In last night's episode, the chefs competed in a Quickfire and elimination challenge starring guest judge Nigella Lawson, a British food expert and writer who has found great success with her books on cooking and food.
For the Quickfire, the chefs have 30 minutes to make Padma and Nigella breakfast in bed. Each chef takes turns serving the gorgeous duo as they sitin heir beds. While they each manage to overcome the initial awkwardness of serving two women in bed wearing bathrobes, as always, some dishes are very successful and other are just...well, not.
Robin and Bryan are in the bottom two, while Kevin and Eli please the judges with hearty food and creative flavors. Eli wins for his eggs benedict inspired by a reuban sandwich that Lawson says knocked the "jetlag" right out of her. For his reward, Eli gets his recipe in the Top Chef Quickfire Challenge Cookbook (so much for immunity...).
For the elimination challenge, the chefs are told to explore different casinos on the Vegas Strip in order to find inspiration for their dishes. They will be serving 175 of Vegas’ elite at the World Market Center. while some chefs find quick inspiration on their individual field trips, others struggle.
Michael visits New York, New York where he decides to make a dish honoring the NY firefighters. Jennifer still hasn’t gotten her head screwed back on and her cooking and strategy continues to falter. She visits Excalibur and the Tournament of Kings where no great inspiration strikes (But hey, they had beer and she had a good time!) Bryan has it easy with the aquatic theme at Mandalay Bay (Bet you can't guess what kind of dish he made!). At the Bellagio, Robin is inspired to honor the Dale Chihuly flower sculptures in her food. Kevin goes to the Mirage and is inspired by the "less is more" take on food after playing with dolphins (Where did that came from?). Eli goes to Circus Circus where he finds lots of color, lots of fair food and lots to work with (Maybe too much?).
Bryan makes a fish dish...shocker. The judges say that his halibut with parsely fluid gel "tastes professional," which is always a good thing. Michael makes a crispy chicken wing with blue cheese for his American, red, white and blue inspiration. Jennifer presents an uninspired chunk of meat with a tiny,
plastic toy sword in it to represent her inspiration of the Sword in the Stone. The judges compare the meat to a stone...not good. Kevin makes a simple dish of salmon and tomato water, continuing his streak of taking uncomplicated dishes and making them shine. Robin overuses the gelatin in her panna cotta and the main part of her inspiration, poured sugar decorations mimicking the sculptures, don't make it to the plate. Eli is last to present to the judges and the looks on their faces say it all. Nigella doesn't even want to try it. Needless to say his caramel apple peanut soup with raspberry froth (That Michael says tastes like PB&J) doesn't work.
In predictable fashion, the top three chefs are: Bryan, Michael and Kevin, which leave Eli, Robin and Jennifer in the bottom. The judging this week is relatively painless. Michael wins, beating out big brother Bryan, and Robin goes home. In the words of Phoenix injury lawyers Goldberg & Osborne, "It's about time."
Watch Top Chef on Wednesday nights at 10/9c.
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