Top Chef: Welcome to Las Vegas!
This year, 17 “Top Chef” contestants converged on Las Vegas. They are Ron (who grew up in Haiti), Preeti, Mike I. (a Rising Culinary Star nominee), Hector (from Puerto Rico), Kevin (a James Beard nominee who had a full scholarship to MIT but turned it down for culinary school), Ashley, Jessie (who has no formal culinary training), Mattin (born and raised in France), Jen C. (who has made boys in the kitchen cry), Jen Z., Robin (who has been diagnosed with two types of lymphoma), Ash (the only chef from NYC and so far, the only one we know of with a same sex boyfriend), Michael and Bryan (brothers), Laurine, Eli, and Eve. Is it just me or do you apparently have to have a number of tattoos to be considered an up and rising young chef?
The Quick Fire Challenge was the mise en place relay. The contestants were broken up into teams of four, based on colored poker chips. However, Robin got a gold chip, so not only did she not have to compete in the quick fire, but she got immunity for the elimination challenge. The contestants had to choose individuals to shuck clams, peel prawns, clean lobsters, and cut chops. Preeti had never shucked clams, but since her other teammates chose everything else, that left her clams. They had no chance of winning.
The Blue Team won, but they had to compete against each other by cooking the ingredient they had just prepared. The winner got a $15,000 poker chip – that is a prize! Jen C. was afraid her dish was too simple, but it was just right – she won.
The Elimination Challenge was to cook a dish based on one of the chef’s vices. The guest judge was Wolfgang Puck (who I met once at Spago in Beverly Hills – just had to throw that in). Some were funny like the halibut shaped like soap for cursing and the rack of lamb based on plastic surgery.
The contestants were competing as individuals, but still in teams. Each team would have a winner and a loser and from those the final winner and person being sent home would be chosen.
The winners were Ron, Mike, Kevin, and Jennifer, with Kevin being chosen the winner. The losers were Hector (he deep fried steak and his dish lacked a smokiness that he promised), Jen Z. (who created a monstrous size seiten chili relleno with no taste), Jessie (whose chicken was dried out), and Eve (whose dish was not cooked well and theme confused the judges). It was obvious that Jen Z. and Eve were on the bottom and the judges decided to send Jen Z. home.
Read these other great entries