The cheftestants had 30 minutes to raid the Top Chef pantry and whip up a dish with the ingredients they purloined. The twist was that they had to search the pantry blindfolded and use whatever random things they put in their baskets. The winner of the Quickfire could chose between receiving a new Prius V or a guaranteed spot in the final four. Being somewhat familiar with the shapes of the various containers, the chefs made their best guesses and started cooking. Tom seemed to have a problem with everyone's dishes except Sarah's corn soup, which he deemed delicious. Sarah got the win and chose to take the guaranteed spot in the final four rather than the Prius V. Ed felt that that was a cop out and that she should earn her way in.
On to the Elimination Challenge where the chefs were reunited with their cooking mentors. They were as follows:
Sarah - Tony Mantuano
Ed - Frank Crispo
Paul - Tyson Cole
Lindsay - Michelle Bernstein
Beverly - Sarah Stegner
The Challenge was to cook a meal that would impress their mentors. They had 30 minutes to shop and a budget of $500. Then they would have 2 1/2 hours to prep and another hour to cook the next day at the Hotel Valencia where the Mentors Dinner would be held. Since Sarah was already in the final four, she was able to trade tequila shots with her mentor Tony Mantuano while the others huffed and puffed at Whole Foods.
After the meal, the judges felt that the best dishes were Paul's chilled sunchoke dashi soup with vegetables and Beverly's Gulf shrimp and barbecued pork with curried Singapore noodles. This left Ed and Lindsay. In the end, Ed's questionable oyster sauce on his braised pork belly cost him a spot in the Final Four.
So what did you think? Should Ed have been sent packing? Does Sarah deserve to be in the Final Four? Should Beverly be back in the competition? Leave your comments below.
Posted on AllTopChef.com
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