Recap Roundup: Top Chef Las Vegas Episode 8

This week on Top Chef: pigs, pinot, pissy Eli and Robin. And bloggers:

Cliffieland writes guest judge Charlie Palmer's bio: "Well, it seems that aside from being a super chef and Mr. Belvedere look-alike, Palmer has a history of having been a boss/mentor for both Chefs BrotherBryan and BrotherMichael."

Jordan Baker on one downside of Ash's leaving: "Ash leaving makes me kind of pissy. Not that I don’t think he deserved it; not that I don’t even think he was maybe a little overdue... but this means we have to listen to another fucking week of all the 'everyone hates Robin' drama."

Minx Eats on the product-whore Quickfire: "Granted, this is a more upscale challenge than those in prior seasons requiring use of items from vending machines, but still. Corporate sponsorship rules the day!"

Reality Check (Baltimore Sun) on the shots the bloggers don't miss: "Who noticed Jerkface Mike putting lotion on his tattoos in one of the first shots? Eww!"

Reality TV Magazine on Toby's, um, colorful descriptions: "Jen's dish was called 'the difference between a shaved armpit and a hairy armpit' by Toby young, which, believe it or not, was good."

Eating LA on the Quickfire winner (and not-so-winner): "Quickfire challenge winner: Eli's potato clam salad with white truffle. Doesn't excite me, but I guess it's better than Robin's sweet corn panna cotta with avocado. Has she never heard of textural contrast?"

Slashfood with a phenomenal potential storyline: "'If I was your mother, I would've raised you better,' she snapped bitterly, making us wonder if perhaps the show's producers will reveal, just in time for sweeps week, that Robin actually is Eli's birth mom, and gave him away years ago when she was diagnosed with cancer."

Grub Street with more on the Eli-Robin drama: "Eli’s trash talk wasn’t limited to Jen — he also slagged everyone’s 'amateur palates,' and tangled with Robin over some dirty dishes. He was totally like, you’re not my [bleep]ing mom, which is a good thing for Robin, because if she were his mom she’d have to pay his rent."

Entertainment Weekly on sibling rivalry: "All eyes were on Bryan and Michael V., who for the first time, bickered like the competitive, childish brothers we've been waiting to see. When Bryan edged in on Michael V.'s workspace, the M.V. was more than ready to wail on his brother and push his buttons just to intimidate Bryan. The verbal sparring was filled mostly with 'Shut the f--- up!' and 'Go f--- yourself!' All to impress their Palmer patriarch? How sweet."

Food and More (Atlanta Journal Constitution) on Laurine and the "c-word": "Laurine serves her so-called rillettes, which makes Dana Cowin utter the 'c' word. It is the grossest insult you can ever make about someone’s chopped meat creation: 'catfood.'"

Diana Takes a Bite on the losing dish: "Ash is sent home for his flavorless, clammy piece of pork that didn’t pair well with his Pinot.Or as he says so eloquently, 'I have the least good dish. Oops.'"

Seacoast Online on the Elimination Challenge: "The challenge is about the art of pairing. Chef Palmer explains pairing to them as if they don’t know what it means, so it's obviously for our benefit because, we, the audience, know nothing."

Speakeasy (WSJ) on Robin's original phrasing: "Here’s an idea: Are reality competitions still competitions if no one says they’re not there to make friends? I don’t know, I’ve never seen one that hasn’t succumbed to the phrase. (It’s worth noting that people who claim they’re not trying to make friends often lose.)"

Village Voice on the dual realizations about Eli: "As morning dawned on the McMansion this week, we learned that Eli still lives with his parents, which wasn't that much more surprising than the simultaneous discovery that he wears white Crocs, and that they're really, really filthy."

Eater.com (NY) with a Robin theory: "Maybe she is all speeded up on Stacker II. That would help explain why she's so freaking cut. She is built like a brick shithouse. I wouldn't want to be on the business end of her Tae Bo workout, you know what I'm saying? Check out her sick Pilates. She is like Finding Nemo. Swim! Be free!"

Left Coast Catering (Laurine's blog) on what went wrong with her rillette: "My arguably larger mistake here was attempting this lengthy technique in our limited amount of time. I skipped the salting and curing stages in the interest of brevity, and without this preparation, the meat needed more time to braise, not less. Sometimes you can, in fact, make several mistakes in the course of a disaster."

Meal Ticket (Philly City Paper) on that wine-tasting scene: "Few things appear douchier to the average person than watching a bunch of people taste wine. But y’all oenophobes should know that all the sniffing and the swirling and the holding it up to the light stuff is imperative to the process. The dumping of perfectly good vino into classy silver spittoons, however? I could take it or leave it. This is probably why the only tasting notes I ever really write are about Fruit by the Foot."

Trouble with Toast on Kevin's win (and his tat): "TEAM KEVIN GETS THE WIN, WOO HOO! In his enthusiasm, Kevin shows the judges his piggy tattoo. Awwwww. For winning, Kevin will be a featured chef at the 2010 Pigs & Pinot event in Healdsburg, California. I wanna go!"

Food Network Musings on brothers and favoritism: "We learn that Bryan worked for him for 10 years and Michael for some time as well. Charlie says he absolutely will not favor them over the others, which says to me that they have no chance of winning."

Procrastiblog on the Volt brothers' Eli-taunting: "Eli is such an arrogant tool that I really enjoyed watching Michael and Bryan get under his skin. It was simple schoolyard stuff ('That was flirting… Did you get to second base?'), but amazingly effective. The Voltaggio’s obviously know how to deconstruct a male ego."

Limecrete on Padma's headgear: "The actual challenge gets under way, and we see that Ptom and Padma have learned nothing from their fashion tragedies last week. Padma actually tries to get away with a sun hat, like she's in The Great Gatsby or something."