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The show opens this week with some ablutions. Some brush their teeth, others put on make up, while Spike and Andrew go through some sort of male bonding ritual speaking in a tongue with which we are not familiar but which we suspect is not inspired by an infusion of the Holy Spirit.
Chicago’s very own Rick Bayless is the guest judge this week. The QuickFire challenge involves turning a typical taco into fine dining bliss. Erik laments the "My Fair Lady" treatment to the taco. With that, the 30 minutes begin. We see the chefs incorporate cactus leaves, duck, jicama, ground pork, squash and other ingredients into their dishes. Manuel describes his intricate taco (chorizo, picante verde with cilantro and goat cheese) and Padma shoots from the hip, “I’m guessing this isn’t the first taco you’ve made.” She cackles in delight at her post-toke joke. Bayless continues down the line of tacos and begins his evaluation by pointing out that some of the Doolittles opened their mouths and straight-up Cockney came out. Erik, predictably, gets called out for this and Erik says in an aside-interview, “I don’t think Mexican and fine dining go together so he can go screw himself.” Erik, however, does not have the cojones to say this to Sir Rick. Lisa’s skirt steak was served rare and thus, Rick’s prominent choppers could not bite through it. Ryan gets dinged for wrapping his taco in paper exactly as if he’d run down to the local taco street vendor and then run back and put it on a plate.
Andrew gets called out for having a “top taco.” His duck breast tacos with plantain jam and cotija cheese impressed Bayless. Andrew literally does a dance as if he’s on the verge of wetting himself. Richard’s jicama wrapped taco filled with avocado, papaya and cilantro stems was also praised. Finally, Spike’s ground pork marinated with soy and chile powder taco served with tomatillo sauce satisfied Rick’s soul. Winner: Richard. Dude, and how about this…he gets his taco on the menu at Topolobampo. Nice!
Elimination Challenge. The chefs split into a red and blue team and are made to scour neighborhood homes for groceries so they can cater the neighborhood block party the next day. Team Blue decides to go a little more upscale while Team Red goes with more classic picnic food but plans to escalate it in some way.
Blue’s menu: Paella (Richard), Slaw (Lisa), BBQ pulled pork (Manuel), Bean Salad (Antonio), Inside-Out Cookie (Mark), “Sexy Drink” consisting of simple syrup, lavender with fresh citrus and then carbonated (Manuel and Stephanie) and Fruit Cobbler (Stephanie) and Mac & Cheese (Nikki). Blue team members serve the food to each guest.
Red’s menu: Sliders (Jennifer), Corn Dogs (Erik), Pork Skewers (Dale), Sangria (Andrew), Waldorf Salad (Ryan), Pasta Salad (Zoi), and Taco Salad (Spike). Red plays up the social aspect, schmoozing the judges as they go by. The Red Team confidently relaxes with the locals.
Judges include Rick, Tom, and Ted Allen. The neighborhood digs in, as do the judges. After tasting, we head to the judges’ table where the Blue Team gets called in first and the Red Team begins to panic. Rick calls Nikki’s M&C sauce a “brick” and Richard’s paella gets called a rice pilaf. The judges let the team off the hook by telling them that they are the winners. Antonio’s bean salad went over well but Stephanie’s dessert (Padma: “The wonton was genius!”) clinches the victory and she is declared the winner of the challenge. For those keeping score, that also makes 2 of 3 elimination challenge wins for Ms. Izard!
The red team slumps in and the camera pans the chefs as they each take a turn swallowing their pride. Erik’s soggy corndogs are a huge disappointment. Because, you know, corndogs set such high expectations. The Waldorf salad is panned for having too much chicken and not enough crunch. The team whines, “Proletariat!” and the judges cry, “Bourgeoisie!” Tom says that the pasta salad was bland and oily. Andrew throws a mini-fit because he still can’t believe they lost and declares that it would take security to get rid of him. Of course, he might admit the loss if someone else got dragged out by security.
The judges discuss. Weakest dishes: Waldorf Salad by Ryan, Pasta Salad by Zoi, and Erik's corn dogs. They chefs are called back in and Tom insults them once more by declaring the challenge simple. In the end…Erik gets asked to pack his knives and go. The big guy hugs the group and you can practically feel the weight being lifted off Zoi’s shoulders. And Jennifer’s for that matter.
Next Week: More Andrew Antics and F-Bombs!
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I found Erik to be a bit toolish. His comment - "so he can go screw himself" was every bit professional and expected. You won't be seeing him no more. Later bra!
Grizz: Amen to that. I was pretty surprised those words came out of his mouth.
Does anyone know what neighborhood that block party was in?
I heard a rumor it was on Richmond St., between Sunnyside and Wilson.
They're copying Borat's accent.
okay. i have to break down and ask. what's with all the padma/mary jane jokes?
Hey there, Smussy. I've probably been reading too much televisionwithoutpity.com. They, and a lot of bloggers, apparently always think Padma is high. Everyone once in a while, it will strike me the same way. Honestly, I didn't notice it at all until I read it and then I started looking for it and sure enough, sometimes it seems like she's been drinking the bong water.
But, eh, who the heck knows. She's still BE-A-U-TIFUL.
I thought it was amazing how condescending Spike and the Red Team were towards the people they served at the block party (well at least behind their back). The Blue Team made paella, bbq pulled pork, bean salad, fruit cobbler, and mac and cheese--not excatly refined or delicate palate stuff in my opinion. Is Spike convinced that we can't handle more than corn dogs and slidders in Chicago? That attitude alone should have placed them as the bottom team (and it probably did). Erik's prickish behind the scenes comment about Bayless was enough for me to write him off as a valid contestant. Good riddance.
I too was appalled at Red Team's condescension and was disappointed that the judges didn't make a bigger deal about their attitude. I only remember Ted Allen saying "good food sells" during the deliberation scene.
Speaking of who's on drugs, Andrew seems super skittish. He creeps me out.
I so badly wanted Andrew to be sent home when he made that comment about "this being my house and security would have to drag me out." I thought "OK! You're gone. A-hole." I totally would have booted him and told Erik to thank his lucky stars that Andrew was such an arrogant prick to the judges' faces.
@pencil
I don't know about drugs. I seriously have wondered if he has some sort of neurological disorder?? I've never in my life seen anyone who is so skittish and seems so ready to blow. I just can't like him because I'm on edge when he's on the screen, just waiting for him to implode over an empanada.
Agreed on the condescending comment. . .Apparently, everyone that lives on a block in Chicago is reduced to corn dogs and hamburgers b/c we NEVER venture out to fine dinning establishments. . .
And, Eric's comments on Mexican cuisine I found very odd, since thus far in the series, he has admitted to making nothing more than bar food at his restaurant. . .corn dogs, glorified nachos. . .maybe you got the boot b/c YOU don't know fine dining, don't bring the Mexicans into it or put down the owner of one of the BEST restaraunts in Chicago!
The block party was on Richmond and Sunnyside. Conveniently located about two doors down from G-Rod's house in Ravenswood Manor.
@groggy
Yeah, he doesn't seem high so much as just off-kilter. I guess I was thinking more neurological damage from prior drug abuse...I would guess that contestants are subject to drug testing, or at least sign a no-drugs contract.
@Iamgray
Totally agree. Eric seems clueless and doesn't belong on Top Chef.
It doesn't seem like a very balanced group -I feel like there are a handful of strong players and a bunch of people I'm just waiting for them to eliminate so we can get down to business.
I kind of wish they would abandon the current format and start with a smaller group. They could start eliminations after say, 5 episodes in. I think the challenges are interesting enough to hold my interest, and early on I'm not too familiar with the contestants yet so I don't really care who goes home.
@ groggy
mmmmm...empanandas!
@ reverendmartasqueeze
Who is G-Rod?
I've said it in the past two power rankings: Erik is one of those guys who's good to have a beer with.
Moreover, he's one of those chefs with a fair amount of talent who's content to simply make hot wings during March Madness all his life.
g-rod is our blow dried governor
yeah, they most def should have done an empanada quickfire instead of the taco quickfire. maybe that would have been more high-brow for erik and spike?
Erik's stated goal was to open a beach shack restaurant in Hawaii and sell sandwiches while wearing flip-flops. While an admirable goal in my opinion, it isn't one that a person needs to win Top Chef in order to accomplish. I wonder if he had said that during his casting interview whether he would have even made the show?
I wasn't knocking Eric's choice of food to make. . .I happen to love wings and mac n' cheese. . .
It's just how could he POSSIBLY make such a lousy statement as “I don’t think Mexican and fine dining go together so he can go screw himself.” I mean, of all people, he should understand that talented chefs can make simple foods delicious and within the fine dining catagory, in any setting. Kinda hypocritical and unexpected from him, as I could see many people saying things about his cooking in the same realm.
It sounds like the contest was supposed to be a BBQ so like, quite whining about how they don't show fine dining in Chicago.
This just in:
Stephanie is still hot.
I think the menus weren't meant to be condescending to chicagoans -- I think they kept to simple foods because of the large number of kids they were serving. didn't they say 70 kids a couple of times?
Did anyone else think it was strange that the red team kept calling the mini-burgers "sliders"? I don't think mini-burgers and sliders are the same thing. Not that White Castle has the monopoly on sliders, but when R.B. specifically asked if the "sliders" were steamed, the reply was, "oh, no, they've got grill marks on them, definitely." Um, then what you've got there is a small hamburger that's been grilled. There's really no sliding to be had. Does any small burger = "slider" now?
Ad - I agree on how condescending the red team was. Like you said, it wasn't so much in their food choice (as the blue team made some fairly traditional foods, too) as it was in their comments. I second your thoughts on Erik.
Pencil - I fully agree on how the first few episodes are sort of ...boring because there isn't much attachment to the people that leave. I guess that might still be true if they started with only 10 people. But yeah, sure makes for a long season.
happygrl - Don't you sort of wish security actually did just drag him out?
groggy - He does seem on the brink of completely snapping. How'd you like to work in a kitchen with HIM looming overhead?
lamgray - right on, right on. That was an ignorant thing for Erik to say!
matty - not sure if you mean us or the judges. heh.
plumbum82 - Hollah!
ilr - I think the general feeling is that the menus were totally fine but the comments made by the red team left something to be desired...like respect. I don't think they were *horrible* but they were a bit insulting.
lorem ipsum - In previous seasons, they've referred to small hamburgers as sliders. The one with CJ and Casey and working to make food for the bunch of drunks leaving the bars in Miami. I think that one had sliders. Maybe slider is generic for small burger, even if it was grilled. Dunno - I'll check it out.
-L.
"It's just how could he POSSIBLY make such a lousy statement as 'I don’t think Mexican and fine dining go together so he can go screw himself.' I mean, of all people, he should understand that talented chefs can make simple foods delicious and within the fine dining catagory, in any setting."
Also, Mexican food isn't necessarily simple. By now, anybody who has ever stepped foot in a kitchen should know better than to equate Mexican food with Tacqueria fare.
@joe dunphy:
Word. Ever try to make Mole? Fuck that.
I just have to say something again. I rewatched this week's episode this weekend and Erik really pissed me off.
To dismiss Mexican food as mere street fare is arrogant, demeaning, and more than a teensy bit racist.
The fact is, all great cuisines arise from circumstance.
For instance, Fuel (coal and wood) is in short supply in China, so food had to be cut small to cook faster. The best parts of an animal went to the aristocracy, so the food of the French people was all about making something fantastic with "less than choice" ingredients. And in India, slaughtering a cow that could be better utilized plowing a field to feed thousands of mouths became "forbidden" and a diet heavy in vegetables and dairy became commonplace.
And in Mexico, things are no different. You take things you have in abundance (corn, peppers, etc.) and use them to amplify what things you have in short supply (meat, for example). This is done all around the world. And just because your personal experience with the food has come from people of lesser means just trying to get by in your home country, doesn't mean there isn't centuries of tradition and thought put into those dishes.
So, elegant or not, the food and culture of Mexico deserves to be placed on par with anything Italy, France, or China can produce. And none of them have to defend their place at the grown-up's "fine dining" table. They had the number zero, brain surgery, and an accurate calender long before your ancestors had those things, so maybe... just maybe they might know something about cooking besides producing a decent taco after a night of drinking.
And P.S.- Stupid reality show or not, I'd guess the vast amount of restaurant fare (of any origin: Mexican, Italian, Thai, whatever) in San Francisco (where Erik is from) and here in Chicago is produced by a Mexican or someone of Latin descent. And I'd make another guess that if you took any veteran line cook off the street, they'd kick almost everyone's ass on that show.
Sorry about the soapbox, it just really honked me off.
I was at the block party and indeed do dwell on the 4400 N block of Richmond street. The mini-burgers were really good, I love d the s'mores, and the white sangria was tasty as well (those were my peaches!) Having them forage in my kitchen for ingredients was a hoot, altho 29 minutes of the time spent in our house ended up on the cutting room floor. Of the 10 or so people who let them in, only 3 of us ended up in a segment. I must say, though, that there ain't much that's real about reality tv!!!
PS: It was Jenn and Ryan who pillaged our cupboards and fridge... She's sweet and does have some talent - he's all brio - a charmer, but kinda clueless, hence the boot last week. I'd say, though, that Chitown's own Stephanie is most likely to succeed outta this whole bunch. While Richard in a world of his own, his ego's going to get him in trouble. Stephanie's a huge talent with the disposition of yoda - wise beyond her years.