ATC Love to Chef Bart Vandaele

Belgian chef Bart Vandaele called himself a "team player" this episode because he was able to deal with the gregarious chef Josie. Unfortunately, he may also have been a wee bit intimidated by her. He made three of the major components of their roller derby party dish, and they suffered from underseasoning, among other things. While most of the episode was edited to make Josie look like she was going home, it was her partner, Bart, who got cut this week.

Chef Bart - we wish you much success in your career. Make judicious use of the bag of salt Padma promised to send you!

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Congratulations, Chefs John Tesar and Brooke Williamson!

Chefs John and Brooke paired up for the Roller Derby girls after party and turned out to be a great team. She reminded the Most Hated Chef in Dallas of his daughter, and she was too polite to say who he reminded her of. :) Their dish, a Thai-inspired beef with lobster rice and a tart slaw in honor of derby girl Kutta Rump, won unanimous praise from the judges and scored them a joint win.

Third time's the charm for John, but Brooke has been on top before. What's next for the two of them? Stay tuned and see!

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Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 8

After being absent for a couple of weeks, Emeril was back with a vengeance, first as the judge of an oyster-related Quickfire in which the chefs had to source their own bivalves at Taylor's Shellfish Farm. Half the cheftestants had to make cold oyster dishes, the other half hot, but the winner of the challenge was the only chef who chose to fry his oysters, Micah. And those morsels did look tasty, if I do say so myself.

Emeril was also around for the Elimination Challenge, of course. The chefs had to pair up in order to create dishes inspired by roller derby girls with names like Jalapeno, Teriyaki, and Tempura. After first watching a game that got Josie fired up (the other chefs not so much), they took 2.5 hours to prepare their dishes at the roller rink and serve them up to 100 guests at party held after the final match of the season.

Chefs John and Brooke worked well together and prepared a winning dish of Thai beef with lobster rice and slaw, which beat out Lizzie and Micah's elevated crab-stuffed jalapeno poppers. On the bottom were Sheldon and Josh's soggy custard tempura and Josie and Bart's teriyaki beef skewer, which was called a "teriyaki terrible." Because Bart did the lion's work, and under-seasoned his share of the components, he got sent home, and Josie lived to battle another day.

What did you think about this episode? Please leave a comment.

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Tonight on Top Chef Seattle

In this week’s Quickfire, the cheftestants must harvest oysters, which turns into a disaster for one contestant who falls face first in the mud! Later on, the cheftestants cook for one of the hottest sports teams in Seattle, but Josie annoys the gang after a few too many drinks and pushes everyone to their limits.

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Merry Christmas from All Top Chef!

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Recap Roundup - Top Chef Seattle Episode 7

Minxeats on being foiled: "Some chefs were luckier than others. Some were also smarter. TMHCiD, for example, thought he was picking up a pot full of herbs but actually got a pineapple. Because pineapples feel exactly like pots of herbs. (What sort of "herbs" was he looking for?) A shame he didn't pick up two objects that were completely different from what he imagined them to be because I could then make a joke about him being foiled...again. Or maybe it's best that I not get that opportunity. In any case, Bravo beat me to it, because according to their Web site, they've titled this episode, "Foiled Again!" I'm not sure if I should feel clever or dumb because I had the same thought as the network."

A Just Recompense on name-dropping: "Lizzie is highly offended that Josie thinks she’ll be easy to beat: she’s cooked for Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela – twice! Hey, Lizzie, chill: the Obamas love Spike’s burgers, and he’s still an ass."

Grub Street on Josie's dish: "Josie, scrambling to finish her rolls, starts yelling about how much fun everyone’s having at the berry festival. When Josie announces that she’ll be putting on an 'after-show,' Gail asks Tom: 'Is she high?' Meanwhile, Padma licks berry juice off her index finger in a beguiling, 4/20-fueled manner. Gail wished the roll had more of that classic 'bright raspberry flavor.' Tom’s disgusted that Josie is more interested in 'putting on a show' than making good food. And why would she put mayonnaise in a spring roll? God only knows."

HitFix on the ghost of Rick Moonen: "As everyone frantically cooks and trips over one another, Tom stops by to chat with the chefs. This is friendly right up until the moment Dallas John tattles that Stefan has frozen tuna. Of course, this isn't throwing another chef under the bus, oh no! It's not that it's frozen, it's the fact it's not sustainable. He was simply making a political statement! Yes, if we know anything about Dallas John, it's that he's a fish loving environmentalist with high moral standards. Or something."

Allie is Wired on more foiled again: "Their challenge is to cook anything they want. The catch is that the kitchen has been turned into the Tin Man’s warehouse. Everything is covered in foil. They must use whatever ingredient they unwrap and use the foil as a cooking vessel. Stefan rips open his protein and gets salmon despite his hopes for goat balls. The kitchen becomes a scientist meets caveman approach to cooking."

Eater on trouble in the kitchen: "Bart is very spunky today. He calls Brooke a fancy pants girl from LA, even though he's like the Crown Prince of Brussels or whatever. Maybe Brooke should invade him; it's very easy from what I understand. He then yells at John for hogging the blender. 'Do I hear blending? Nooooo.' They tell one another to fuck off, and then the blender tells John, Josh, and Danyele to all three fuck off."

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All Top Chef Interview with Danyele McPherson

Top Chef Seattle contestant, Danyele McPherson talks about her experience on the show.

A highlight:

ATC: Did you watch last night's episode? 

 DM: I did. 

 ATC: It seemed that you never got any momentum going. Was it nerves? 

 DM: I never imagined myself on any TV show. My nature is to be a planner, a lister. That is how my life works. But that doesn't work on Top Chef. On the show, we have to sort of cook on the fly - that's what makes it fun to watch. So I was a little out of my element. 

 ATC: If you could go back, is there anything that you would do differently? 

 DM: I feel like at the Last Chance Kitchen, I was finally myself. I should have had more fun, and just been myself.

Click here for the full interview.

Click here to learn more about The Grape restaurant.

Click here to "Save a Chef."

Thank you Danyele!

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ATC Love to Chef Danyele McPherson

It's sad to say, but you could almost see this one coming. Chef McPherson had shown a crippling lack of confidence from the beginning, and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before her timid choices would get her eliminated. Although Tom felt that her concepts were solid, her dishes missed the mark, and that was true in the berry challenge. With a rubbery terrine that was slice too thinly and a crostini that was too crunchy, the judges had to send her packing.

It's hard to see nice people get eliminated, but the Top Chef Kitchen is a cruel crucible to endure.

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Congratulations Chef Kristen Kish!

Chef Kish is on a roll right now and doesn't show any signs of slowing down. Her creative move to make a sponge cake in 30 minutes with only aluminum foil to cook it in showed Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard that she had the right stuff. Then she wins the Elimination Challenge with her tayberry dish at the Remlinger Farms Berry Festival. As Tom said, if she keeps cooking this way, she should be in the competition for a long time.

It'll be interesting to see if Chef Kish can keep up this hot streak.

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Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 7

When the cheftestants entered the Top Chef Kitchen, everything in the pantry was wrapped in aluminum foil. Padma was joined by the only woman to win Top Chef, Stephanie Izard, to introduce the Quickfire Challenge. The chefs could cook anything they wanted, but they had to unwrap their ingredients and anything they unwrapped had to be used in the dish. Also, they could only use foil for their cooking vessels. After 30 minutes of cooking, Padma and Stephanie tasted the dishes. Kristen's daring move to make sponge cake got her the win.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to go head-to-head using a variety of berries at the Remlinger Farms Berry Festival. Since Kristen won the Quickfire, she was on her own, but the other top five chefs from the previous challenge got to choose who they would battle with from the bottom five. Then the teams chose their berries. The next day, they had three hours at the festival to make enough dishes for 150 guests and the judges. Despite the team theme, it was loner Kristen who walked away with the win for her creative use of tayberries. Out of the five who did not win their head-to-head challenges, Danyele was sent packing for her rubbery terrine and too-crunchy crostini.

What did you think of last night's episode? Leave your comments below.

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