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Tom Colicchio
Clambs, Lamb, and a Traffic Jam: Laurine's dismissal was a simple math problem.

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The top of this week’s episode saw eight cheftestants still standing, and I think they suddenly realized that it has become Do or Die. And as we saw, this seemed to have rattled a fair number of them.

… but I’m getting ahead of myself. First, the Quickfire Challenge. It’s interesting that both Kevin and Michael asserted that it was a ridiculous challenge. I think it was a fun play on a process that does happen in more creative kitchens … theirs surely included. One person says, “How about doing ‘X’?” and another says, “Oh, yeah – I have some heirloom tomatoes that would go well with that…” and another says, “…which makes me think we could then do ‘Y.’” In my kitchens, a chef will say, “I want to do ‘X,’” and I’ll say, “Cool, but let’s take that and go in this direction…” And so we do collaborate and co-create dishes. Just minus the blindfolds, i.e., during the planning stage, not, as here, during the execution stage. I thought it was a very interesting exercise, one that called into play a great many of the chefs’ skills, as they had to be able to assess the state of a dish-in-process, and move it towards completion in a way that set up the next teammate. Eli’s approach was very smart: he put the most general mise en place together and prepped without committing to any one thing. Jennifer, on the other hand, made some big decisions, putting sauce down and saying, “This is going to be the flavor of the dish,” a good choice for her given her skill with sauces. Everyone did well with the challenge, Kevin and Michael included, despite their initial skepticism.

It’s at Restaurant Wars that it all began to go south for some….

I think we can all agree that in REVolt, we’ve never had a better restaurant with a worse name. We’re glad it didn’t deliver on its name’s connotations. As for Mission, however, unfortunately it didn’t either.

For the second time in this one episode, Kevin said something that I have to challenge: He said that it was ridiculous to have three hours in which to open a restaurant. Well, yeah, that would be ridiculous, if that were what was being asked of the chefs -- I’m not challenging that assertion – but is it ridiculous to do a three-course menu for fifty people and have it prepped in three-and-a-half hours? No. It’s a lot of work, but it’s not that crazy, as Kevin was suggesting. As I wrote above, I think being at this slightly-more-than-half-way point in the competition had folks a bit fazed.

One thing the episode showed us was that the leadership of the two teams was very different. Michael V. was very assertive: taking his leadership role very seriously, he had his hand in everything. He wasn’t being obnoxious when he asked Bryan whether his chocolate dish would be too grainy; rather, Mike wanted to be sure it would be done well for the sake of their restaurant. And when he felt that Robin was deviating from the plan they’d already devised and that he’d signed off on, he stepped in to fix the situation. He was firm, albeit respectful, and he expected respectful behavior from everyone else, so he wasn’t going to permit what she was dishing out, literally and behaviorally. And he led by example, working very hard and expecting the same from his team in that regard as well.

Comments

150 Comments

: 01/06/2010 - 2:08pm; nkadzi; the best season ever, the skill, the competitiveness and the high level of professionalism always left me in awe!!

: 11/07/2009 - 5:11pm; ThE KaT; I’m sorry to disagree with Tom but Michael was not professional at all times. His attitude towards his brother was not professional at all. Even if he's your "bro," in the restaurant wars he was his "employee" and that is so not the way to treat someone under your command. I would really hate to work in his kitchen

: 11/05/2009 - 3:26pm; Lisa Mooe; I am adding this a bit late, but I have to say that I think all of the comments about this being the best Top Chef Restaurant Wars is at least a little insulting to the previous 5 seasons. With that said, I am glad that the cheftestants did not have to split up and decorate - or paint - I always felt this took away from a cooking competion. But the other seasons did, and I think it took away from some of the cooking. As much as I love this season's participants, I don't think you can dismiss how difficult the other seasons had it in regards to this particular challange.

: 11/03/2009 - 4:53pm; bayla; I watch alot of food shows, and I have yet to see one dealing with Kosher cooking. Top Chef usually has a limitation placed on how the chefs must cook. Talk about restrictions ! However, kosher cooking also allows for substitutions in our cooking. The food markets today have plenty of kosher products. The biggest challenge of course would be the lack of pork products, and no mixing of meat and dairy products.
Give it a try!

: 10/30/2009 - 5:35am; Derek B; The caliber of contestants this season is phenomenal. The dishes coming out of the kitchens are blowing my culinary mind. I can't commend the staff and judges enough for this show. I see it just as a televised competition, not a Reality Show, though the production is amazing in its own right. There are no gimmicks to this show. It's all about the food and the judging is on point every time. I'm an architecture student and sitting through critiques in a good design school is exactly like this. Taking an idea and turning it into a cohesive, well executed, presentation is very similar to what we do. Chef Colicchio can sit in on my critiques any day!

10/29/2009 - 8:56am

Patty T

Bravo to Top Chef!

First, let me say I watch just about every cooking show on television. However, Top Chef gets top marks for its production. Top Chef has the highest caliber of contestants, integrity, competence, judges, and location.

After watching other cooking contest shows, such as “The Food Network,” they pale in comparison to the class of, "Top Chef.” I know it seems like I am gushing but really, look at what else is out there. The only other show that gets good marks is, "Iron Chef.”

"The Next Iron Chef,” is sloppy, the judging appears unprofessional, and the set is too stark and cold. How could any food taste good on that judging table? In addition to the chefs being more seasoned, they do not bring new technology and exciting recipes to the show. I am a good cook and think I could produce many of the dishes that appear on Top Chef. This is not so on other challenge shows whose contestants are so frantic that you can't really tell what’s going on except they all seem to be in fear for their lives.

I hope Bravo will produce more quality cooking shows like Top Chef. I just wanted to thank you for doing it right.

Your biggest fan!

: 10/28/2009 - 11:04pm; Tim Long Island; Chef Tom - how about discretly mixing it up a bit and asking the losers to appear at judge's table first. Might be a nice "giant curve ball".

: 10/28/2009 - 10:24pm; Vicki L. Robertson; I want to commend Top Chef and Natalie Portman for showing viewers that vegetarian food is FOOD, too. As a vegetarian it is hard to find something to eat at a steakhouse, thank you Mr. Colicchio. Something different to most, but the everyday for me. Much love!

: 10/28/2009 - 12:03am; dsgs; In addition to being a vegan, doesn't Natalie Portman have a medical condition which presents other food challenges?

10/27/2009 - 2:10am

Catherine@Cameron

Catherine

Tom-You guys where really spot on, on this Restaurant Wars, I was really upset that Jen did not execute as well as she normally does, I am so cheering for Jen. Then I would say it's a toss up of the brothers as well as Michael, but at this point of the game, it's so hard to tell.

Again, another excellent job well done by the Top Chef Team. Keep on giving us TC true blue fans the best, as you all usually do.

Good Luck to you and all of the Top Chef Team.

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