Top Chef Masters: Suzanne Tracht is Eliminated
Tonight was the first “Top Chef Masters” champions round. The former winners who were competing were Art Smith, Hubert Keller, Anita Lo, Suzanne Tracht, Michael Chiarello, and Rick Bayless. There would be three rounds and the chef with the highest score would win another $10k for their charity. The chef with the lowest score would be eliminated.
The Quick Fire Challenge was a team competition – Pepper (Michael, Suzanne, and Art) vs. Salt (Hubert, Rick, and Anita). It was the mise en place relay race. The teams had to see who could prep the fastest. The judge was Tom Colicchio. The chefs had to do such things as shuck oysters, chop onions, and cut up a chicken. Rick, Hubert, and Anita ended up winning by a hair. Their advantage was to head into the next round with 5 stars each, while the other team got 4 stars each.
Before the elimination round, they had to prepare their signature dish. Everyone made their dish and after sampling each other’s, they were told that for the elimination challenge, they had to take a competitor’s signature dish and put their own spin on it. Rick said, “That’s mean.” Hubert chose Anita’s scallops and she got Hubert’s lobster and truffle cappuccino. Rick, who cooked lamb, chose Michael, who cooked quail. That left Suzanne to do Art’s seared grouper and Art to recreate her chopped sirloin.
Anita and Rick had the highest scores, but Anita beat him by one to win the $10k. Both chefs move on to next week. Hubert moved on to the next round with 21 ½ stars. Michael moved on with 18 ½ stars. Art squeaked by with 15 stars while Suzanne was eliminated with 14 ½ stars.
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