Top Chef Power Rankings: Week 5
When the biggest drama one can bring to the table is to announce that you're in an existing relationship with another contestant, you aren't long for the competition. Unfortunately, that's what Zoi Antonitsas (right) brought to the table, along with penchant for whining. It all led to her dismissal last week, and a meltdown by her partner, the faux hawk-wearing Jennifer. That poor chair never stood a chance.
All things considered, it's been a thoroughly underwhelming season of "Top Chef." The cream of the competition rose to the top very quickly, with a wide separation between them, the middle of the pack, and the wannabes. What surprises there are so far are in short supply. Dale's inner prick has come out as Andrew has settled into an unrequited "bromance" with Richard. Spike seems to have packed a limitless supply of hats to go along with his $200 worth of spices he can't cook without. Lisa has made a strong case for staying in the competition the past two weeks, winning last week's elimination challenge for (in the words of Dale) "cooking fucking bacon."
Coincidentally, she's been paired with Stephanie in elimination challenges, also. This raises another point for why Stephanie remains atop the power rankings, even though she can't tell Dean and DeLuca from Dominick's in a blind tasting. A great chef is also an adept manager, a soother of egos. That Steph was able to get Lisa and Dale to work together last week was a testament to her ability to negotiate the politics of the kitchen was testament to that. Contrast that to Richard, whose fumbled trying to pass the buck when his salmon sous vide failed miserably.
And now, on to this week's power rankings, as compiled by the Chicagoist food and drink staff.
1. Stephanie (last week – 1): despite her poor showing at the palate quickfire, she again manages to be on the winning team and her calm helped meld the team on its menu.
2. Dale (last week – 3): Thought he contributed to the drama, he made excellent marinated chiles on the winning team of the elimination challenge.
3. Richard (last week – 2): Even though Richard had a disastrous week, he remains, overall, one of the better chefs on the show.
4. Antonia (last week – 8): She won the palate test but sunk her team by not rolling over a bit easier.
5. Mark (last week – 4): Has no idea why he added turnip to a plate but at least the turnip didn't have scales.
6. Andrew (last week – 5): Enough with the faux caviar.
7. Lisa (last week – 10): Lisa showed she was capable of creativity with her miso-maple bacon preparation and won the Elimination Challenge. For now, considering the weak performances by the others, this is worthy of a jump in rankings.
8. Spike (last week – 7): He may be annoying but he recognized that the meal wasn't seasoned enough. No points for not having the gumption to say so and do something about it.
9. Jennifer (last week – 6): despite her efforts to cook the duck breasts perfectly, the judges noticed that the fat wasn't rendered and the breasts weren't scored.
10. Nikki – (last week – 9) Despite being on the losing team, she kept her cool when Ryan was dumping ingredients down the drain.
11. Ryan (last week – 11) We fully expect to see the prodigy leaving this week.
12. Zoi (last week – 12) For you, Zoi, we send you off with the dulcet tones of Englebert Humperdink.