Top Chef Review: The Three Amigos, And One Of Them Is Still Annoying.

I can see the light at the end of this 4 month-long tunnel! We are in the home stretch and Lindsay, Paul and Sarah are trying to find their way in a post-Beverly world. Bev won’t be popping up anymore to shatter Sarah’s fragile confidence or get in anyone’s way.

This week, Emeril returns as guest judge (boo). I won’t reiterate my issues with Emeril (even though I do use his cast iron skillet in my kitchen and other than weighing 900 pounds, it’s great) but just for the record, there are MUCH better chefs that Top Chef can get to judge (yes, Eric Ripert, I am talking to YOU).

For the Quick Fire Challenge, Padma and Emeril served us up a cooking relay. They brought in three very accomplished chefs, who just happen to be masters at Asian fare. Sarah smartly pointed out that it was a good thing that Bev wasn’t around to beat her. Insecure much?

The chefs drew knives to decide the teams. And while Sarah squealed when she saw Takashi like he was Justin Bieber, she ended up with the sweet Floyd Cardoz. Lindsay and Anita formed another team and Paul and Takashi rounded it out.

The pro chefs started it off – they had tem minutes to lay out their vision for the cheftestants. Anita laid out scallops to be prepared three ways for Lindsay, Floyd started a curry for Sarah to construct and Takashi picked a geoduck to prepare.

It was a fun challenge to watch and made me really respect the way in which the teams were able to work off each other using only ingredients as their communication technique. Pretty impressive.

Paul prepared a geoduck sashimi with Japanese cucumber and white fish. While Paul kept it simple, just as Takashi had hoped, he did toss chili onto the dish at the last minute. Why? Because per usual, Paul second guessed himself and ignored his gut.

Sarah did exactly what Floyd envisioned by preparing a coconut curry base for seared cod and pairing it with a crab salad and amaranth.

Anita had wanted Lindsay to prepare scallops three ways but Lindsay only did two variations, although this did not appear to be a huge issue. She ended up serving scallops with bok choy, and fried roe with sausage and perfectly knifed water chestnuts.

Padma and Emeril thought that Paul’s addition of chili overpowered his dish and made it way too spicy. Trust your gut, Paul! You are your own worst enemy! They liked Sarah’s curry and crab salad which was bittersweet for me. I don’t really wish to see Sarah be successful but I was happy that sweet Floyd did well. Lastly, Padma and Emeril thought Lindsay’s scallops were solid but Emeril dinged her for using sauces that were too powerful.

In the end, Sarah got the win and $20,000. Obviously, I wasn’t thrilled about that but I’ll live.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs were asked yet again to prepare a meal for the masses. You’d think that when we get down to three contestants, Top Chef would have them showcase their talent in a more intimate environment….especially given that this season has been FULL of mass cooking challenges. Well, that wasn’t happening during this episode – the task for the chefs was to cook for 150 people at a Fire and Ice party in Vancouver. The theme of each dish was fire and ice. As the chefs scrambled to determine how best to prepare their dishes to highlight fire and ice, we hear a lot of Sarah pontificating about how she always knew it would be down to her, Paul and Lindsay. Or how her career would be over if she didn’t win Top Chef. Over it. For some reason, Sarah has a lot to say about who is destined to be competing for the top spot. She has a lot to say about how good of a cook she is.  She has alot to say about the other chefs faults.  It’s one thing to be confident. It’s another thing to be so insecure that you have to constantly re-assure yourself that the universe always intended you to be amongst the top dogs. Just cook your food and try to showcase a better personality than the one you have. Lordy.

For the Fire and Ice party, Paul decided to make a lobster broth with king crab and some sort of lemon snow. He paired his dish with a Pan Am, which apparently includes Thai chilies and rum.

Lindsay made a dish highlighting tomato and halibut. She interpreted the “ice” part of the challenge to be a spoonful of tomato ice.

Sarah decided to make a canoli with various types of greens. She topped off her noodle with a mousse that ended up getting a little too frozen on the anti-griddle. The anti-griddle is a nifty little tool that freezes items rather than warming them up like a true griddle wood.  Sarah paired her dish with a refreshing cocktail that while good, did not compliment her dish that well.

The judges liked Paul’s dish although they felt that it could’ve used more chilies. What? More spice? But that is exactly what lost him the $20,000 during the Quick Fire! Make up your mind, Padma. Tom had what seemed to be a major issue with the arugula that Paul garnished his dish with. Tom is a purist and thinks that garnish has no place being on a plate.  Use all items constructively or don’t use them at all!

The judges thought that Lindsay’s dish was solid and Gail said she had never had such well seasoned ice. Thanks, I guess?

Sarah served up a strong plate as well but her mousse ended up being a little too frozen so it didn’t form the right consistency to be the sauce that she had hoped.

In the end, Paul and Sarah took top honors while Lindsay was sent home. She was a gracious loser. And of course, we couldn’t end this episode without Sarah reminding us all that it was always meant to be that she and Paul would be competing for the title of Top Chef in the finale. God, I hope Paul can stop second-guessing himself long enough to beat this lady.

Season 9, Episode 16: Fire and Ice (originally aired February 22, 2012).

Watch Top Chef on Bravo Wednesdays 10/9 central.

Images courtesy of Top Chef.