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Top Chef Las Vegas Episode 4: A French wrench in the system
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Top Chef Las Vegas Episode 4: A French wrench in the system
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Last night, I was talking to a local chef who's a big Top Chef fan. He explained that any chefs who claims they never tune in to the show are most likely lying their clog-wearing asses off. Now that I know this � what's up, chefs? Wasn't last night's episode French as shit? Did any of you have mortifying flashbacks to culinary school? Night terrors about aspic or anything? I'm here for you.
Quickfire: The world-renowned Daniel Boulud invites the cheftestants to his Vegas brasserie, and asks them to impress him with a dish highlighting snails. A tough enough challenge on its own (also a "high stakes," with $15K on the line) � but then they learn that while the QF winner will earn immunity, the loser will be shipped home. "Whoever thought that a snail looked good to eat had to be really fucking hungry," quips Jen C.. That's kinda like a Philly version of that famous oyster quote from Jonathan Swift. "Escargot is like my whole youth, you know?" says Mattin as he preps his dish. No, we hadn't noticed you were farcically French.
Among Boulud's favorites � Kevin, who Southerned up his dish with a candied bacon jam; Mike I, who impressed the big-shot chef with a soulful ouzo broth; and Jen C., who grilled ramps and threw yuzu into the mix. It's close, but Kevin ends up with the chip. (He also ends up with probably the dopest perk in Top Chef history � more on that in a sec.)
Bottom three for the QF � Jesse, Ashley and Robin. As they brace to hear who'll be sent packing, Tom C. throws them a bone, giving them 20 minutes to whip up an amuse bouche to prove their mettle. Jesse, who does the pre-dinner bites at her Bmore restaurant every night, doesn't impress with her tuna tartar, and Boulud says au revoir. "The thing I want people to know is that I don't suck this bad," she laments post-axing. That sounds depressing but it reminds me of an important distinction � as much as I like to poke fun at the ridiculous things these people say on TV (my long-standing rule of thumb: If they're on the screen, you are allowed to make fun of them), some people just aren't predisposed for success when it comes to the spontaneous challenges these sick-in-the-head Top Chef producers concoct. I don't think it has much to do with raw ability, either � remember Roy Yamaguchi stumbling on Top Chef Masters? Wacky on-the-fly cookery just ain't in their makeup. "Why do they sign up for the show, then?" you might ask. Wouldn't you?
Elimination: The cheftestants draw knives � some are assigned classic French proteins, while others land classic French sauces. Then they pair up in six groups, combining a sauce with a protein to create a coursed tasting for some of the biggest French chefs in modern memory, including Boulud, Laurent Tourondel, Hubert Keller, Jean Joho, and "chef of the century" Jo�l Robuchon, whose restaurant hosted the dinner. Not competing? Main man Kevin, who gets to sit with all the culinary giants and eat dinner. The dude's face lights up like a bearded Christmas tree when he gets the news. Seriously unbelievable.
Not enough time to go into how big of a deal Robuchon is here, but please read former TC finalist Richard Blais' extended-Star Wars-metaphor writeup on the guy. My only quibble, Richard? If you're gonna get all Lucas on us, how could you not liken JR to Emperor Palpatine?! They got the same tailor and everything:
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"To be cooking for the chef of the century, honestly I feel like throwing up," admits Ashley.
The cooking and service segments are intense and FrenchFrenchFrench, as are Robuchon's monolingual thoughts on the dishes (a little translator guy helped break it down), e.g. "If you go into the details, I'm caught a little off-guard" re: Eli and Laurine's middle-of-the-road lobster/sauce Am�ricaine dish. At the top: Jen C. and Mike V. (love connex? seems that way), whose rabbit/chasseur plate was "cooked perfectly," according to Robuchon; and Bryan and Mike I., who took a big risk � that paid dividends � by desconstructing a bernaise to go with trout. Bryan is selected as the individual champ, his second Elimination W. I still think they look like lifeguards, but it's clear the Voltaggio brothers are serious, serious business.
At the bottom: Mattin and Ashley, who screwed up a velout� with too much bacon (anyone else notice Mattin curtsy like freaking Madeline in front of all his countrymen? cute); and Hector and Ash, whose Chateaubriand steak was unevenly cooked and ill-presented. Hector, sadly, gets the boot for his sloppy meat-slicing, but there may be a buddy comedy in this duo's future � Ash was already working on the treatment early in the episode ("So this Puerto Rican and this gay guy have to make dinner for Jo�l Robuchon ... ")
Next week: Cookin' in the desert with Tim Love.
Ah ... Hubert, how I missed your hair and your French-self.
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