Steve has gotten me hooked on Top Chef. I have to admit that I look forward to watching it each week. It's fun to watch the contestants scramble to make original and well executed meals and to then hear the judges' critiques. There have been some really yummy looking food and some bad flops. I wish I could be there to taste everything!
This week had six contestants left. They formed two teams of three and competed in "Restaurant Wars." They had five hours to open a new restaurant in an empty warehouse space with a kitchen. They had to decorate the space as well as plan the menu, shop and cook. A few hours into the competition, each team got help from one former contestant from this season. When the restaurants opened, one person from each team had to play host/hostess and the other two team members (+ extra contestant) were finishing up the food and plating the dishes. There was also a wait staff to help out. There were four judges and approximately 30 other diners.
The winning team - Stephanie, Antonia and Richard - did really well. Stephanie was the hostess, but also was responsible for two of the dishes - homemade pasta and the cheesecake dessert. She ended up winning since these dishes were the favorites of the judges. All the food this team made looked excellent.
The losing team - Dale, Lisa and Spike - was a disaster. You knew that they were headed for doom since these three had been on a team together before with horrible results. None of them are team players. They don't know how to pitch their own ideas and listen to others'. Dale was the executive chef and seemed to lead by throwing tantrums. Spike was the restaurant manager, in charge of decorations and then playing host. Lisa was in the kitchen, fighting with Dale and messing up her dishes. Ultimately, Dale was asked to leave because the judges held him responsible for the team's poor performance and he was responsible for one of the bad dishes as well. I want to know what Spike was doing the whole time. They showed him complaining that he had to hang all of the artwork by himself. He didn't take credit for any of the dishes, except for the concept of the braised ribs. From what I could tell, he and Stephanie had the same roles, but she also made food.
So, it's pretty clear who the top three chefs are. And, it's clear that Lisa and Spike have got to go. It was a little shocking that Dale was asked to leave at this point since he's won a lot of challenges. (He does really well when he works on his own. When he's on a team, he loses his ability to function well in the kitchen.) Lisa and Spike have their time coming.
It's a tough call between the top three - Richard, Stephanie and Antonia. They are all pretty calm and seem to do well under pressure. Each one has messed up at some point and each has also done amazing work. It will be interesting once it's down to these three.
Even if you haven't watched it before, I would recommend checking out the last episodes of this season. It's on Wednesdays on Bravo at 10:00 pm.
