Episode 2

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We join the chef's in the stew room after last week's elimination. Nana is visibly shook after her panic attack during Week 1. She feels she has more to prove, which is a great attitude to have, if you can get it together and survive Week 2. Rhoda is coming off the first win of the season and is determined to keep pushing herself. This is champion talk! Let's see if she can back it up with her immunity. 

 

This week the chef's entered the Top Chef kitchen for the first time of the season! Former champion Mei Lin joins us for the Quickfire Challenge, which is centered around gelato. Each chef chooses a gelato flavor to try. Jonathan picks Vanilla because he thinks it's the safest flavor, a very strong strategic move. 

 

For this week's Quickfire Challenge, each chef will make a savory dish that highlights the ingredients for the region that inspires the gelato they chose. The dish will be served with a scoop of gelato after so they will need to go together. There are two chefs per gelato flavor so chefs will serve side by side. The chefs will have 30 minutes to cook with the winner receiving $10,000. 

 

Gelato Flavors (Regions) and Chefs broke out as the following:

 

Vanilla Bean (Madagascar) - Jonathan & Sieger

Alphonso Mango (India) - Rassi & Nana

Pacific Coast Pistachio (California) - Laurence & Anthony

Mediterranean Mint (Mediterranean) - Jennifer & Justin

Coffee Chocolate Chip (Colombia) - Rhoda & Brittany

Southern Butter Pecan (Southern US) - Duyen & Brandon

Caramel Cookie Crunch (Argentina) - Sherry & Oscar

 

Favorite Dishes

 

Oscar - really balanced and great with the cheese

Laurence - amazing flavors with salty, sweet, tangy

Nana - spice paired really well with the gelato

 

Least Favorite Dishes

 

Brittany - coffee flavor didn't come through, overly aggressive with raw onion

Sieger - fish was overlooked and the sauce was overpowering

Duyen - pork was cooked ok, but missing seasoning

 

Laurence wins the quickfire and $10,000!  

 

For this week's Elimination Challenge, the chefs will have to work as a team to create a 7 course menu that gets progressively hotter. Each chef will be responsible for one dish and will choose a pepper to be featured in their dish. Each course will have 90 minutes to prepare and cook the day of service. The chefs draw knives to determine the teams. 

 

Green Team - Anthony, Brittany, Jennifer, Jonathan, Oscar, Rhoda, Sieger

Red Team - Brandon, Duyen, Jassi, Justin, Laurence, Nana, Sherry

 

With the limited info that we have, the Green Team looks stronger on paper despite having Rhoda who has immunity. That's always tough if you end up on the bottom table as it raises the odds of being eliminated. It will be great to see a big team challenge this early in the season, as it gives us a great glimpse into the chefs personalities. We'll see who takes charge, who gives in to team pressure, who gets steamrolled on the menu planning or shop. After the challenge everyone should leave with some better insight to what these chefs can accomplish. 

 

Rhoda looks like a good team player by being open to taking the pepper nobody wants since she has immunity. This is an advantage to her teammates if they can execute properly. Jassi wants to go last even though he doesn't like spice. Nana questions this in her confessional and it does seem questionable strategically. The Red Team creates a strategy during the shop to cross utilize the ingredients. So if someone is buying lime, they get enough for everyone. This seems risky as you are relying on other people to get your ingredients. We could see some issues here during the prep period if people can't find what they need. It already seems sloppy as the Red Team is struggling to get their order within budget. At the end of the shop it does look like a lot was left behind. 

 

As the chefs enter the kitchen to start their prep, Rhoda already looks to be taking charge on the Green Team. Everyone is helping Brittany with her dish and this is a good start based on her Week 1 performance. Rhoda wants to sign off on everyone's dishes, this may annoy people but will at least make sure there is some guidance. They seem to have their progression properly locked in. 

 

The Red Team doesn't seem to have a clear leader off the bat but they do have a good looking menu. Jassi is planning on going super hot, but by not liking spicy, he wants to make sure he has input from the team. When they go to taste, Brandon's dish is spicer than Sherry even though he is going first. Sherry has to re-season her dish to compete with Jonathan's which makes her nervous. This is also trouble if the first dish is too spict the progression will be off. 

 

First Course

 

Sieger (Green) - Kumamoto oyster, cucumber, green jalapeno mignonette granita & reaper salsa

Judges Feedback: Came in hot, delicious but aggressive 

 

Brandon (Red) - Tuna tartare, tomato jalapeno jelly, avocado mousse & puffed wild rice

Judges Feedback: Texture was great, perfect amount of heat

 

Red seems to win the first round based on the judges feedback. 

 

Second Course

 

Brittany (Green) - Charred corn & grilled shrimp salad with chili lime vinaigrette & pickled cayenne peppers

Judges Feedback: Heat was lingering, seemed a little boring but tasted good

 

Sherry (Red) - Chilled seafood chowder with lemongrass, fresno chilies & fresno lime granita

Judges Feedback: incredibly elegant, broth was rich but hit the spot perfectly

 

Red seems to win the second round based on the judges feedback. 

 

Third Course

 

Jennifer (Green) - Peppered crab with grits & seafood gravy

Judges Feedback: Sauce is spectacular, it packs a punch, love the textures

 

Duyen (Red) - Pork laab salad with jalapenos & rice crackers

Judges Feedback: Really nice, the spice grows, very good

 

Close one, but I think Green takes this round based on the judges feedback. 

 

Fourth Course

 

Jonathan (Green) - Pan seared snapper with cara cara orange & kumquat slaw

Judges Feedback: Very good but next to Laurence's.

 

Laurence - Carolina-style yuxiang eggplant three ways with rice

Judges Feedback: This dish is good, feeling the spice, fantastic dish with a lot of thought

 

Mei comments that the Red Teams progression is much better so far. 

 

Red Team takes this one based on the judges feedback. 

 

Fifth Course

 

Anthony (Green) - Jerk lamb, hoe cake, red jalapeno & scotch bonnet carrot maafe, carolina reaper pikliz

Judges Feedback: Love the texture of the corn cake, flavor and the heat were balanced, successful dish

 

Nana (Red) - Shito marinated red snapper with fish light soup, fufu espuma & okra salsa

Judges Feedback: Loved the texture from the soup, Tom's snapper was raw and didn't like the dish

 

Green takes this round based on the judges feedback. 

 

3 - 2 Red going into the Sixth course. 

 

Sixth Course

 

Oscar (Green) - Blue corn masa huarache with al pastor, salsa diabla, salsa criolla & pickled pineapple

Judges Feedback: Did a really nice job with layering the chilis and the heat, tons of great complexity

 

Justin (Red) - Shrimp stuffed chicken wings with greens dressed in habanero chili oil & yogurt ranch

Judges Feedback: Took a minute to get the punch, needed a better cook

 

3 - 3 based on judges feedback, looks like it will come down to the last round. 

 

Before the final round, the Red team starts adding heat to Jassi's dish as they do not think it is hot enough. 

 

Final Course

 

Rhoda (Green) - Pepper braised short rib, chili pickled pearl onions & blistered cayenne

Judges Feedback: Had an amazing sauce, she used the heat profile really well, flavor explosion

 

Jassi (Red) - Braised lamb vindaloo with flaky paratha, potato mash, yogurt & lime shot

Judges Feedback: Didn't really kick for them, heat was more in the mash, lamb was dry

 

Based on the judges feedback, it seems like the Green team stole this round and could have won the overall challenge. Judges table will be very interesting as it seems close. 

 

Green Team wins Elimination Challenge in a VERY close match! The individual winner from the Green Team was Rhoda. That is her second elimination win in a row, an especially impressive feat when having immunity. 

 

The Red Team is on the bottom and someone will be going home without a chance to get to Last Chance Kitchen. Justin, Jassi and Nana have the judge's least favorite dishes and will be at risk of going home. Jassi is eliminated and will go home. Nana sneaks by again despite another poor service. We'll see how long she can last with her level of performance. 

 

In League News, we have points! Every team scored points this week except for Team Gaskin/Waldfogel who are in the negatives. Unfortunately nobody picked Laurence this week so no points for Quick Fire were awarded. For the Elimination Challenge, 7 teams chose Rhoda to win. Of those 7 teams, 3 had Jassi in their top table and lost points due to him being eliminated. After week 2, we have a three way tie for second place between Team Hutty, Team Sean and Team Scott/Becca. Team Reuben/Liz are picking up right where they left off last season as first place in the rankings. Still VERY early though and the tides can turn quickly in Top Chef League. 

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Episode 1

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Reunited and it feels soooooo good! 

 

Season 23 opens up at the Charlotte Motor Speedway with an interesting dynamic having both a set of twins and a couple in a long term relationship (not married). We'll see how this plays out down the line. Quickfires no longer provide immunity, but there will be cash prizes instead. 

 

The first Quickfire of the season has the cheftestants split themselves into five teams of three. Each team must create one dish using only the ingredients in the pantry. They will only have the time it takes for a professional driver to take 23 laps around the speedway track. No team is able to start plating until the final lap. The teams split themselves up with little drama and it seems to be based on where they are standing. 

 

Red Team - Anthony, Brandon, Sweiger

Blue Team - Jennifer , Jonathan, Laurence

Yellow Team - Day, Duyen, Nana

Green Team - Brittany, Jassie, Justin

Purple Team - Oscar, Rhoda, Sherry 

 

Favorite Dishes

 

Purple Team - ceviche was cold and beautifully cured

Yellow Team - harissa butter was delicious and they liked the pickled green tomato

Blue Team - hush puppy was beautifully fried

 

Least Favorite Dishes

 

Red Team - seemed to have ingredients missing

Green Team - fish was raw, not cooked

 

Blue Team wins the first QF of the season! This is interesting as one of the twins and Jennifer from the couple all won, while their "partners" didn't. Let the competition begin!

 

Before the chefs leave the Charlotte Motor Speedway, they are given their first Elimination Challenge. For this week's EC, the chefs will have to create a high end dish featuring sweet potatoes. The chefs draw knives to determine which sweet potato they must feature in their dish. They will only have one hour to cook and plate their dish. It's an individual challenge, with the chefs serving in groups of three. In each group there will be a winner and one chef up for elimination. 

 

In a new twist for this season, the first two chefs eliminated will NOT have an opportunity to enter Last Chance Kitchen. So the eliminated chefs in the first two weeks will go right home, with no chance at redemption. 

 

We head to Whole Foods for the first shop of the season and all the chefs seem to have a good idea of what they want to do. After the shop, the chefs head to the hotel where we learn some more personal tidbits about them. It's great to see so many chefs have connections before the show, I believe that will help amp up the competition...and drama. 

 

As the chefs hour starts, they all seem concerned about the one hour time limit. Some people seem to have experience with the sweet potato and others do not. A lot of the chefs seem to be pulling from their childhood with their dish. As always the kitchen is chaotic, even more so with this being the first challenge. Day seems especially scattered as she realizes that the oven with her dish was not on. She seems panicked, very panicked. 

 

Before service we learn that the chefs will vote on the spot for each dish. This will put some extra pressure on the chefs once they realize what is going on. 

 

Carolina Ruby Group

 

Sherry - Carolina ruby mocqueca with green papaya chow chow

Judges Comments: Great flavors, cooked well

 

Jonathan - Grilled pork loin, Carolina ruby bacon jam, sweet potatoe puree & pickled okra

Judges Comments: Everything was cooked perfectly

 

Day: Roasted Carolina ruby with herbes de provence, sos kreyol & roasted snapper

Judges Comments: Fish undercooked and sweet potatoes, the herbs were too powerful

 

WINNER: Jonathan

LOSER: Day

 

Before service Nana is a complete mess and cannot get her dish plated. She has a full on meltdown afterwards in the kitchen. Do not see her going far if she cannot handle the pressure in the first challenge. Kristin has to go console her but not sure anything can save her at this point except another chef completely missing the mark. 

 

Murasaki Group 

 

Anthony - Seared scallop with murasaki accra, murasaki fondant & jus

Judges Comments: The preparation was great and the fritter was great

 

Nana - Murasaki mpotompoto with colalrd greens & smoked ham

Judges Comments: Most sweet potato of all the dishes, not ready

 

Laurence - Murasaki & pork stuffed collard green sarma with tomato & yogurt

Judges Comments: Laurence took away flavor from the sweet potato

 

WINNER: Anthony

LOSER: Nana

 

Purple Majesty Group

 

Oscar - Braised purple majesty with agave chorizo hash & pasilla salsa

Judges Comments: Really good, not a lot of comments. 

 

Justin - Curry & cardamom poached purple majesty, brown butter sweet potato puree & cheese sauce

Judges Comments: Pretty close but the texture was really fun, potato undercooked, most likely not going home based on feedback

 

Brandon - Purple majesty with caramel, coconut & white chocolate sorbet, sweet potato streusel & meringue

Judges Comments: It was good, something they never had before

 

WINNER: Brandon

LOSER: Justin

 

Brittany has an issue with her pork and cannot get it to temperature. It looks pretty rare when she goes to plate. 

 

Covington Group 

 

Jassi - Rice and lentil khichdi with roasted covingtons & yogurt pickles

Judges Comments: Flavor wise was fantastic and was out of balance

 

Brittany - Seared pork tenderloin, covington puree, pickled & crispy sweet potato

Judges Comments: Felt more like a pork dish, and the pork was underdone

 

Rhoda - Soy-glazed covington with miso sweet potato puree & lime creme fraiche

Judges Comments: Almost unanimous, miso made the sweet potato sing, was most sweet potato of all the dishes so far

 

WINNER: Rhoda

LOSER: Brittany

 

Norton Group

 

Duyen - Norton sweet potato & pandan mochi with ginger syrup & coconut cream

Judges Comments: Really refreshing take on the sweet potato

 

Sieger - Seared norton, roasted onion jus & sweet potato puree

Judges Comments: Liked the flavor combination but the cook was challenging

 

Jennifer - Condensed milk poached sweet potato with squash puree & pickled nortons

Judges Comments: Flavors were great, but the potato was undercooked

 

WINNER: Duyen

LOSER: Jennifer

 

After service it seems like the it's between Day, Brittany and Nana to go home. For the winner, I think it seems like Rhoda is the front runner after the service. 

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The winner of the first Elimination Challenge is Rhoda! She will now have immunity for next week. It seemed really obvious based on the judges feedback. 

 

The first chef eliminated from the competition entirely is Day. Somehow even with a complete breakdown Nana escapes elimination. Not sure she will be gone next week but she will be gone soon unless something changes. 

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