Top Chef: And Then There Were Four

There was finally something new and interesting going on in this week’s Top Chef. This was an important moment for our chefs as this was the last quickfire and elimination challenge in Las Vegas. Next they head to Napa Valley for the finals. My crazy psychic powers came to fruition as Eli was kicked this week (okay it was pretty obvious!) for what I believe was poor execution of his protein dish in the elimination round. This was expected though as he seemed to be the weakest technically if you go through the whole season.

What was a surprise was Jen’s quickfire win and comeback that came just in the nick of time. She had been blundering the last few challenges and it was really great to see her get her game back. In this round, the chefs had to recreate a ballotine, which essentially is a protein within a protein within another protein. It’s a classical French technique featured in the Bocuse d’Or (a prestigious competition, akin to the Olympics of the culinary world). Gavin Kaysen, who competed in the Bocuse d’Or with Team USA, was the guest judge. Jen triumphs with her calamari steak, scallops, salmon, shiitake, shiso with rice noodle salad. Michael created a very beautiful looking dish but was dinged because it was more of a terrine than a ballotine. As usual he defends himself by saying that he wasn’t specifically asked of that, and if he was he would have kicked ass.

In the elimination round we find that the chefs will be competing in the Top Chef version of the Bocuse d’Or, with their guests including Thomas Keller, Jerome Bocuse, Daniel Boulud, Traci Des Jardins, Timothy Hollingsworth, Alessandro Stratta and Kaysen. Our regular judges Padma, Tom, and Gail were present as well. Each had to prepare a presentation platter a la Bocuse d’Or style with one protein of either lamb or Atlantic salmon and two garnishes. The garnishes were expected to be more than just vegetables arranged nicely, they were to be creative, tasteful, and serve to the overall cohesion of the platter. There were faults found with every entry but in the end Kevin won because he was the only one who executed his dish well. Brian had vision, Jen had the taste, Michael’s looked beautiful, and Eli had a good idea.

Kevin ends up winning a place in the finals, thirty thousand dollars from the M Resort, as well as a chance to earn a place in next year’s Bocuse d’Or with Team USA. If there was any challenge to win, I would say this would be it.

This episode was actually interesting, informative, and entertaining. There was hardly any drama and it was all about the cooking, which is really what the show should have been focusing on the entire time. I thought that all the chefs gave it their best shots and created really unique looking dishes that I don’t think we see on television often. I was extremely happy to see them face a real challenge because there was a real sense of seriousness here. They were being judged on the standards of a real culinary competition that leaves no room for error. Technique was highly important and that’s where nearly everyone got dinged.

I’m glad that they finally had a real challenge and viewers got a glimpse of what the show could have been like if they had these types of obstacles from the beginning. But this is still reality television and what else would they promote in those fifteen seconds if there was no drama?

The season is almost done and I’m hoping against hope that they wow me from now to the end. I won’t hold my breathe though.

For another take on this episode, check out Is This A Kissing Book? by Jaimie Campos.

Season 6, Episode 12: Culinary Olympics (original air date November 18, 2009)

For more on Top Chef, click here.

Wednesdays at 10/9C, Bravo

Photographs courtesy of  NBC Universal and Trae Patton