Recap Roundup - Top Chef Masters 4.9

A Just Recompense on Mystery Guests: "We know, and the chefs seem to know, the mystery guests will be someone they know. Turns out, the critics get to cook. I love this idea. Francis Lam graduated from the CIA (not to mention the University of Michigan, but that had nothing to do with cooking), and I know from her book Garlic and Sapphires that Ruth is an experienced cook; I suspect James knows his way around the kitchen as well. But for all the chefs know, they’re dealing with their crazy uncle Eddie, another chef’s parent or spouse, or previously eliminated chefs (which would be pretty cool, actually)."

Mary Alice of Charm City Cakes for the Baltimore Sun on the Mystery Guest dishes: "Chris and James’ shrimp dishes look very similar - even down to the plating. Curtis tastes each and says 'I actually can’t decide which I like more!' to which James responds, Oh, just shut the f--- up.' Sassy Molassy! Lorena and Francis didn’t get their pasta cooked in time so they present a saute of swiss chard with chicken and stuff on top. Curtis likes the sauce but wants something to put it on. Kerry and Ruth created a sauteed chicken dish with bacon, rosemary and swiss chard cream. Their plating is quite different — Ruth used half a chicken while Kerry’s is just small pieces. Hilariously Curtis likes Ruth’s dish better."

LA Weekly on the Elimination Challenge: "Keffernan's team had whipped up a Chicken Florentine, Garcia's a lasagna, and Cosentino's a basic pork dish -- no bells and whistles in any of them. But the chefs took different approaches when it came to vamping them up. Keffernan stayed relatively true to the original form, guiding the students in creating a Florentine-inspired chicken with orzo and asparagus ragout. Cosentino went out of his way to teach the kids that what a pig eats is reflected in how it tastes, and used the pig's presumed diet to help them put together a pork loin with hazelnut brown butter, apples, and watercress. And Garcia, the queen of "food is love," kept it basic, enhancing the students' lasagna with better ingredients and technique, and serving it family-style."

Gossip & Gab on smart: "Kerry Heffernan took notes during previous seasons and made the wise choice to be kind to his mystery partner."

The Zagat Blog on scary Kerry: "Kerry is kind of intense and terrifying, ordering the kids around and yelling at them to move faster and push harder like a scary gym teacher, but he whips them into shape and turns a string-cheese chicken Florentine into a Florentine-inspired chicken with orzo and asparagus ragu. And Kerry wins again! This man is on fire."
Posted on AllTopChef.com