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Top Chef Las Vegas Episode 13: Throw Padma From the Train
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Top Chef Las Vegas Episode 13: Throw Padma From the Train
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| bravotv.com |
It's part one of the Season 6 finale, and there are only a few things on my mind at this point in the competition. First � remember when Preeti said she became a chef because of 9/11? That was awesome.
Second � knowing what we know now, that Top Chef snoopage sesh from yesterday has created nothing but more confusion for me. And the last thing I need is more Top Chef confusion.
Quickfire: Our final four � Jen, Kevin, Bryan and Mike � show up one by one on a railroad platform at what looks like Shining Time Station, hair all different and strangely rested-looking. They're in Napa. Kevin's beard has a Facebook page. A pretty train arrives. The transcendently beautifully preggos Padma emerges alongside Top Chef Masters finalist Michael Chiarello. Does anyone else feel as though Padma should always be trailed by a Crazy 88-style entourage every time she enters or exits any type of door or vestibule?
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You know what? It's the second-to-last episode of this season. I'm just going to go ahead and get this out of my system:
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God that feels good. What am I supposed to do when this season is over? Read books? I'm so angry already.
So the Quickfire is that the final four cheftestants have to cook dishes for Padma and Chia on board the Napa Valley Wine Train, using grapes as a thematic ingredient. Kevin gets motion sickness easily so he's not feeling so hot about the situation, at least until he hears that the prize is a brand-new Toyota Prius. Jen reveals that she drives a 2000 Chevy Cavalier, which endears me to her even more � I'll race you down Broad in my '98 Civic with the cracked-ass back bumper, Jen!
Chia has kind words for all of the chefs and their dishes, even threatening to steal to Jen's chicken liver/clam/cabernet grape combo for his restaurant, but Mike ends up getting the keys to the whip with a "cous cous"-stuffed grape leaf (his "dishes" always have so "quotes" around the "ingredients") with a "scallop" "skewer." "Screw him, man," says Jen. GOOD FOR YOUUUU, Mike!
Elimination: Napa Valley's fall crush season is reason for celebration, and the foursome are told to cook two dishes apiece for a crowd of 150 rich people who wear denim shirts. One dish must be all-the-way vegetarian, while the other can feature a protein � but ALL the ingredients, S&P excepted, come from within a 50-mile radius. This stirs up some trepidation in Mike, who's used to cooking with space food sourced from the Crab Nebula, but Kevin, Jen and Bryan all seem OK with it.
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| bravotv.com |
"There's definitely a sibling rivalry," Mike says of competing against Bryan. Really? While we're all rattling off long-established absolute truths here, I definitely spend way too much time thinking about this show and Gail Simmons is definitely extremely into me.
Jen puts out a chevre mousse for her veg entry and a delicious-sounding roundup of braised duck legs and confit duck breast for her meaty plate; Chiarello compliments the "duckiness" of her Sonoma duck (are chefs allowed to say stuff like that?), but there's apparently too much salt in her goat cheese jawn. Mike's veggie pistou with slow-poached eggs and turnip/foie/pear soup earn dubious feedback. (His food causes Chiarello to utter the phrase "finish in my mouth," which made me laugh because I am 12 years of age.) Kev's roasted root-veg dish (above) is a huge hit, as is Bryan's goat cheese ravioli, and it's a battle of the short ribs for their meat courses: B's comes fig-glazed and flavorful, while K's ropy � sorry, "toothsome" � presentation with polenta is slightly less well-received.
The judges have quibbles for each of the chefs, but when it comes time for elimination, it's our girl Jen who's sent packing. Not to sound like too much of a homer here, but I think this is a perfect example of how utterly stupid it is for the judges to claim that they view the chefs' efforts on an episode-by-episode basis. If that were really true, Mike would've been axed, only because the stringent locavore parameters of the Elimination threw him off his game a bit � he stated himself that he missed his "tricks," and it showed in the mixed-bag reactions to his food. Jen's veg dish apparently had too much salt, but her duck was a smash across the board � even though they tried to twist her on-the-fly decision to confit her duck breast instead of grill it (coals weren't hot) into a shortcoming.
Next week: FINALE. OK Top Chef fans � who's taking this? My gut says Kevin, but based on my nosiness research, the logical pick here miiiightttt be Bryan. Let's hear what you have to say.
I can't recall a Top Chef "chopping block" session in six seasons when I couldn't pick at least one cheftestant or even say all of them deserve to go...but last night's elimination left me flummoxed on who they were sending packing. Right-on Drew, they loved Jen's duck, but seems the reason she was kicked to the curb, according to Tom, was it wasn't her initial intention?? Jen rocked and did us proud. My money's been on Kevin since Episode 1. If he doesn't pull a Blaise, he's taking the title.
Social comments and analytics for this post... This post was mentioned on Twitter by mealticket: TOP CHEF LAS VEGAS Episode 13 recap (read, comment!): http://tr.im/GzsP...
Forget it. I'm not even reading next week's recap. Shouldn't chefs be rewarded for thinking on the fly, not punished? It's good to let the 12 year old backpack rapper out. Don't want him to get suffocated.
I say we take friendly wagers on the ganador. Being in Philly means that we can use the term "high stakes," but instead spell "stake" like "steak," and the winner gets a cheesesteak. We've got to have odds, though, and Kevbo's at 10-1 (or maybe instead of winning cheesesteaks, I will eat 10 cheesesteaks if he wins). I put Li'l V at 3-1, and Bry-Bry's dead even. Thoughts?
I, too, enjoyed Jen's duckiness and her shout-out to the chevy cavalier. I was dissapointed that she gave her recipe away to the devil so eagerly. Jen works for a real man. Mike is a smug alert in himself. I wouldn't want to see Jen crusing down Walnut in that newfangled contraption anyway. I'd like Kev to win, cause I cook like that on my day off, but knowing Bravo, they will pick one brother over another. It's not about the food people, it's about the drama.
I couldn't join Kevin's group fast enough after I heard that. My wife and I want him to our personal gnome-chef. He's awesome. I was sad to see Jen go, but who could argue with this top 3? This is the best final group ever, I think, and she can't feel too bad. I would've taken her over anyone in season 1 or 2, maybe more, but, oh well. You kinda had to think they would set up the brother battle in the finale. Last year, they used the whole Hosea-Stefan feud (but forgot to realize that no one likes Hosea either) to make the finale personal. A sibling rivalry is just too easy for them to pass up. Thankfully, they deserve to be here. I'm rooting for Kevin. Any man that has a pig tattoo has a spot in my kitchen. But I have a feeling it will be a fancy technology-driven battle between the brothers. Out of the them, I think I like Bryan a little better.
Kevin 4-eva! And while I love Kevin the most, it upset me a little bit that he used the word "toothsome" incorrectly! He was trying to say that his dish had some texture, right? But toothsome means delicious or alluring (professor vocab, over here). Not the same. Although I'm sure his dish was delicious and alluring so whatever. Finally, if I had to pick between the two brothers I'd choose Michael because Bryan's mouth really freaks me out and tattoos are cool.
I've really been disappointed in this season of Top Chef. I haven't found any of the personalities at all interesting. I really hated Eli and his smarmy, "Mommy, the pressure is so tough" phone call and his I have my own restaurant and I'm big whoopie sh*t but I live with my parents thing. In truth I only wanted Ron to win because he almost got eaten by sharks or some crazy thing. But I do imagine that it will come down to Kevin or Bryan. Because they seem to be to the two best at consistently coming up with good stuff and never coming out with things that seem utterly terrible.
Kibby, your comment compelled me to google toothsome and I discovered that it can also mean "sexually attractive or exciting", weird. If Mike wins I'll be upset because he is a douche. Not Hosea-upset, but still upset. Gooooooooooo Kevin!!!!!!!!!!
How do I get in touch with Kevin? Can you direct me to a fine dining experience? Kim H
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