This week brought out the patriotic side of our chefs, who were tasked with cooking for 300 people, including members of the Air Force's Thunderbirds and their families, at Nellis Air Force Base just outside Las Vegas. The conditions were less than ideal - not only did the chefs have to deal with a tight timeline, but they also had to work in a mess hall kitchen (no burners, no pots, no blenders) and instead of hand-choosing ingredients from the hallowed aisles of Whole Foods, they had to make do with the cans and bags found in the pantry on-base.
Yet somehow, they pulled it off.
In a display of teamwork that seemed a lot more Top Chef Masters than regular Top Chef, the fifteen remaining chefs pulled together to create eight dishes that, as a whole, looked pretty good. With Jennifer in charge of the kitchen, even sharing equipment went fairly smoothly.
In the end, the judges, including not-a-good-Boy-Scout Mark Peel, were most impressed with Michael V's lettuce-wrapped braised bacon, making this the second week in a row that a Voltaggio takes home the big prize. However, they were less impressed with Laurine and Preeti's pasta salad that, truth be told, looked like something you'd find on a TGIFriday's menu. Ultimately, the judges sent Preeti home because even though they couldn't discern who came up with the dish, they just didn't think she got what went wrong. And as we all know, "getting it" is important in Top Chef-land.
All around, a feel-good episode that highlighted the professionalism of (most) of the chefs. But it still left me with some questions:
- Seriously, are these people more mature than contestants in years past? You can't tell me that in a previous season, somebody wouldn't have tried to beat Michael V. up for taking all the bacon.
- Is it just me, or did Jennifer get a little shafted? Didn't she deserve more praise for keeping things organized and under control in the kitchen? Maybe she got it off-camera.
- Did anybody else laugh when Mattin said he was going to cook "Franco-American fusion"? Or am I the only Top Chef-watching Spaghetti-O's fan in America?
- Also caught: Ash calling Jennifer "soft-spoken." The same Jennifer we're watching?
- On the losing dish: sundried tomatoes + capers + olives + red peppers + artichokes + broccoli + red onion and still underflavored? How is that even possible? Also, shouldn't the chefs know by now that pasta salad is never going to win you anything? Especially if you, like Preeti, just made "a pretty salad" in the Quickfire?
- Glad to see Mike I's TV-pleasing temper is back, but at what point will he actually have a heart attack on camera? Also, Jennifer's Quickfire win was "favoritism"? Keep telling yourself that. Oh yeah, and America thanks you for that lesson in risotto.
What did you think? Did the judges make the right choice, or should they have booted Laurine for trying to slide under the radar, or Mike I for his "throwaway" salad? Did Jennifer get shafted, or was Mike Volt the right winner? Please leave a comment with your thoughts...
Top Chef Season 5 competitor Ariane Duarte has graciously offered her views on Top Chef Las Vegas. Here's her "live" blog post:
This week brought out the patriotic side of our chefs, who were tasked with cooking for 300 people, including members of the Air Force's Thunderbirds and their families, at Nellis Air Force Base just outside Las Vegas. The conditions were less than ideal - not only did the chefs have to deal with a tight timeline, but they also had to work in a mess hall kitchen (no burners, no pots, no blenders) and instead of hand-choosing ingredients from the hallowed aisles of Whole Foods, they had to make do with the cans and bags found in the pantry on-base.
