The eight remaining cheftestants arrived at the Palm Door restaurant to be briefed by Padma and Hugh Acheson on the ground rules. This time around, it would be the boys against the girls. Each team would have the run of the restaurant for one entire evening and serve 100 people. They had to come up with a complete restaurant concept, including the decor. With a total budget of $11,500, each team had to buy furnishings as well as enough food to create six dishes (two choices for each course).
With 45 minutes to plan, the boys came up with the name Canteen and named Ed as the front-of-the-house man. The women decided on a rustic theme called Half Bushel and Lindsay was put out front. Then it was a mad shopping spree to find furniture, dishes, candles, and food.
The next day, the male chefs spent five hours setting up their new restaurant. While Ed handled the front of the room ably, the chefs forgot to appoint someone to expedite, creating some real confusion in the kitchen. It didn't help that the judges, who included Hugh Acheson and Emeril Lagasse, thought the food was lacking in flavor.
Twenty-four hours later, it was the ladies' chance. Obsessed with monitoring the kitchen and her halibut dish, Lindsay lost sight of her job as the greeter, causing major delays with the seating of guests. Sarah appeared to be more preoccupied with beating up on Beverly than cooking the food, so the whole process broke down pretty quickly. Despite the rough sailing, the judges preferred the women's food over the men's. In the end, the food was what gave the women's team the win over the men. For the winning dish, Beverly's braised short ribs won out.
The fellas had to face the music. Although Ed's dessert was deemed the best of the bunch, it was woefully lacking in coconut for a dish named Almond Joy. The biggest offender, however, was Ty-Lor who made a timid Thai-inspired shrimp and crab dish. For his fear of seasoning, Ty-Lor was sent packing.
What did you think about this episode? Please leave a comment!
Posted on AllTopChef.com
2 comments:
Was surprised they added the decor element back in - can only assume it was a move for a sponsor.
I was quite happy to see the decor element come back. Restaurant Wars was never quite about "building" a restaurant after season 4.
And I would still give Dave Martin the prize for his inexpensive yet cool decor in season 1.
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