Top Chef Recap: Episode 9 – The Ides of April
Many apologies for the late post on this one, as I was off inventing oreo-vodka concoctions on the beach. TC is taking another week off tomorrow, so there is room today for an update on last week’s shocker of an episode.
After the previous restaurant wars challenge was called a draw, Team April (the dream team) went up for a rematch against Team Garage, now re-branded with the much fancier ‘Team Qatre’ but still clearly the scrub squad. As you might predict, the first guys got as cocky as Team USA going up against Argentina.
The scrubs, as was noted in the last recap, have suddenly developed quite the team chemistry, with Ms. Sara asserting her dominance over Howie and whipping him into submission.
Casey lost the quickfire for Team April by virtue of the fact that she can’t even cut onions. Again, she looks like Jennifer Aniston, so there is not even a fleeting mention of kicking her pretty ass off.
In an inexplicable twist,Team Quatre “wins” wine-pairing expertise from Season One’s creeptastical Steven, and both teams are blessed with interior design tips from Madonna’s brother. Way to pull out the Z-list stars, Bravo.
There is very little to mention among the dishes cooked in the elimination challenge (oh right, this show is about cooking). Nothing looked too amazing, although I was glad to see what a panna cotta is actually supposed to look like, after that now-infamous freezer episode.
The major faux pax came from Tre, who must have made it a goal to disprove my theory that you can spread pesto on anything. He tries it out on wild salmon, and Padma’s pretty little face convulses like she is having a flashback to Rushdie’s naked body.
In what Bravo calls “one of the biggest upsets of the season,” Tre is asked to pack his knives and leave.
Photo: DesiVideos.net, aka my new favorite site.
Caught the re-run last night. I hate to say it, but as much as I wanted to see Tre stick around (I had him picked for Top 3), he was definitely the right one to kick off last night. He sold the bread pudding as a no-brainer and then completely punted it. And the description of the salmon dish alone made me cringe at the thought of any kind of pesto being involved – no way would a chef miss the fact that it sucked once he gave it a taste.
Casey’s onion dicing skills were atrocious, but I really don’t think Steven’s wine expertise could have saved their side from going to elimination.
So now I’m left with Brian and Dale as my two remaining Top 3 choices. And I’m grudgingly promoting Casey to the third spot, because she seems bulletproof despite a relative lack of depth.
I’m ready for Sara to leave, as well as Howie – their voices totally grate on me. This is wrong, but CJ is just too tall for the kitchen. More unjustified comments to come.