Zach Feldman, Top Chef correspondent, brings us up to speed.
Tear. Top Chef is halfway done, and two NYC chefs are out to pasture. Dale, Andrew, Lisa, Nikki and Spike, we’re counting on you!
Episode eight kicked off with a Quickfire revolving around Uncle Ben’s microwavable rice, captained by Oprah’s personal chef, Art Smith. Richard, Dale and Antonia were on top, with Mark, Lisa and Stephanie dragging their feet. Antonia took the win for an inventive hot-cold rice salad with skirt steak.
The elimination challenge this week involved Art’s organization, Common Threads, which teaches children about the benefits of healthy eating. The chefs were given $10 to prepare a meal for four—naturally, this was considered an awful ordeal. At Whole Foods, everyone scrambled to stay under budget, and the usually calm-headed Stephanie gathered a hodgepodge of ingredients—a technique that might have served her well on last week’s improv challenge (this week, not so much).
The next day, the crew received some help from the Common Thread kids, and handled their mini souses with poise. At the judges’ table, Antonia picked up another win, this time for her noodle stir-fry. NYC lost another contender last night—Mark—who was sent packing for his too-sweet vegetable curry (and not because Tom dislikes him, as was his fear). Mark’s defeat was a bit of an upset, considering that all of the judges deemed Stephanie’s peanut-and-tomato combination agonizing.
Next week: Chaos ensues at a wedding, and Andrew gets a “culinary boner”—is there any other kind?
