Top Chef Review: Let the Show Begin

It’s week three on Top Chef and we’re finally cookin’. We start with the Quickfire Challenge, judged by Padma (didn’t love the headband, P) and Johnny Hernandez of La Gloria restaurant. There are snakes slithering around in the Top Chef kitchen so you best bet that it’s time for everyone to make a rattlesnake dish. Padma wants to see some “mother-f***” snakes on those mother-f***” plates!

Surprisingly, the chefs I thought might be the strongest in the competition came out on bottom – Jimmy, Ritchie and Nyesha. Both Jimmy and Ritchie went so overboard in their flavors, they lost the taste of rattlesnake and Nyesha ended up overcooking her main ingredient. On the flip side, Beverly got props for her presentation and cooking to her strengths. Dakota rocked her beer battered fried rattlesnake and Sarah kept it simple and straightforward with rattlesnake and a touch of citrus. Our winner? A very happy Dakota who not only got $10,000 but immunity from the Elimination Challenge.

Next, is the fateful Elimination Challenge – cooking for Blanca Flores, a bubbly 15 year-old having her Quinceanera. The chefs were split into two teams, Team Green and Team Pink. The task is to cook elegant Mexican cuisine for over 100 guests. The piece de resistance? A cake.

Everyone takes off to the grocery store and Mexican meat market. Team Green, at this point, is functioning as more of a cohesive unit than Team Pink. I was surprised to see Beverly’s Aretha Franklin diva moment emerge as she demanded people put everything down immediately to get short ribs for her. Beverly may not be as sweet as I originally thought.

Cut to next scene where the members of Team Pink discover Keith bought pre-cooked shrimp. Everyone is aghast at how he could’ve made such a decision.  I guess I don’t understand the gravity of buying pre-cooked shrimp versus raw shrimp but, that’s why the perfect place for me is on my couch…watching the horror unfold. When asked what he was thinking, Keith says that because he didn’t know what the shrimp would be used for, he made a judgment call that pre-cooked shrimp would work. I buy that. I also think that all the other chefs standing around him at the seafood-counter threw him under the bus because they easily could’ve argued for raw shrimp. I’d like to point out Chris in particular. He claimed he “didn’t see” that it was pre-cooked shrimp Keith bought but he totally did. Sketchy and not cool at all.

At the Quinceanera, Team Green’s dishes stood out and took home the victory. This despite having one of the jankiest looking tres leches cakes I have ever seen.

Ty, Sarah, Lindsay and Keith were the unlucky 4 that were called to Judges Table. As predicted, Keith’s decision to buy pre-cooked shrimp was highly criticized. He also got dinged for using flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas for his enchiladas. Lindsay went down with the flour tortilla ship because the judges thought she should’ve said something when she saw Keith using flour rather than corn, especially given the fact she knew that corn is the predominant tortilla used in the region and Keith had no clue.

Well, Keith paid for his cluelessness. He was sent packing, I would’ve liked to have seen him stick around for another challenge. I think he’s a better chef than we got to see and an overall good guy.

We’re down to 15 chefs and next week is a chili cook-off. Also, Beverly cries in her second straight episode. Do I feel a season long crying countdown coming on?

Lastly, Keith won this week’s Last Chance Kitchen (yay). He’s up against next week’s loser.

 

Season 9, Episode 3: Quinceanera (originally aired November 16, 2011).

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Images courtesy of Bravo TV.