ATC Love to Chef Stefan Richter

Chef Richter wanted desperately to get to the finale as he had during his first run on Top Chef. Alas, he came up short of his dream thanks to some really overcooked pork skin. While guest judge Curtis Stone could appreciate this European approach to the protein, Tom and the other judges would have none of it. Also, his ravioli with eel and parsnip filling had too much parsnip and not enough of the critical surf ingredient. It seemed like Chef Richter did not come on quite as strongly this season as he had in the past, and therefore his early elimination was not a total surprise.

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Congratulations Chef Brooke Williamson!

Chef Williamson has show remarkable flexibility and tenaciousness throughout the competition. This time, she pulled out a win by stretching the boundaries of what surf and turf could be by using mussels and frogs legs. Not only was the dish executed well, but her plating earned her high marks, sticking with the spirit of the restaurant in which she was cooking. As she moves onto Juneau as one of the final four, Chef Williamson is well positioned to take home the top prize.

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Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 13

It's north to Alaska for the cheftestants as the Final Five board the Celebrity cruise ship Infinity for a trip to the 49th state. Along for the ride is Top Chef Masters host Curtis Stone. He and Padma meet the chefs in the cruise ship kitchen where they introduce the Quickfire Challenge. This time, they must make a one-bite item showcasing the highlights of iceberg lettuce. They have 2 hours, but they must make enough for 200 guests. After everyone served their dishes on deck, Sheldon was named the winner for his complex lettuce wrap.

That evening, the chefs sample the inventive dishes at the ship's restaurant, Qsine. Then Padma and Curtis spoil the fun by announcing that, for the elimination challenge, they must provide the next night's dinner service, making their takes on the classic surf and turf. Since Sheldon won the Quickfire, he got first choice of proteins. He played it safe with filet mignon and lobster. Brooke, on the other hand, stretched the definition of surf and turf by choosing mussels and frogs legs. For her inventiveness, she got the win. Meanwhile, Stefan cooked the skin of his pork belly to a crunchy consistency, and buried his eel in parsnips for his ravioli filling. For these transgressions, he was not allowed to move forward.

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

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Recap Roundup - Top Chef Seattle Episode 12

A Just Recompense on warming the fish: "Josie gives a mini-lecture about the dangers of touching fish while making sushi since it warms the temperature. I don’t know if that’s a real thing or not – maybe that’s what Katsuya was talking about when he warned them not to touch too much – but I don’t feel like being lectured by Josie about anything. That’s what happens, producers, when you keep someone on past their prime. You teed her up for us, so I’m gonna take the swing. She’s making New England clam chowder. Hey, that’s what she said, it’s inspired by clam chowder,with bacon and yuzu vinaigrette. Halibut, bacon, yuzu, what kind of clam chowder is this? 'I love sushi, I’ve gone so far as to have sushi parties where we served sushi on naked women.' Talk about warming the fish."

Minxeats on blotto: "The cheffy guests arrive and sit themselves at a long table in the back yard. Padma is already stoned out of her gourd. She calls Tom, 'Tommy,' and suggests that Emeril and Wolfie are a 'power couple,' just because one of them pulled the chair out for the other. The wine is flowing pretty freely through the whole dinner, as this is the Terlato wine challenge. The lucky winner of the fried chicken battle gets a year's worth of Terlato wines. That's 365 bottles, according to Padma. Maybe she can drink that much wine in a month year, but 12 bottles would probably be sufficient for me."

Grub Street on product placement: "The judges have said 'fried chicken' at least 200 times this episode, by the way. I wonder if Healthy Choice is offended? Or perhaps this is all a way of ramping up to the introduction of Healthy Choice Fried-Chicken-Flavored Yogurt with Real Bones in the Bottom?"

Hit Fix on bacon everywhere: "Snidely Josh doesn't know a lot about sushi, as he doesn't crave it the way he craves bacon. So, he's making sushi with bacon. Stefan thinks he would have his fingers cut off in Tokyo. But Stefan is having chef's block."

Eater on foreign languages: "Everyone is very confident in their fried chicken recipes, in a way that all Italians swear by their own family's meatballs. Josie says to Stefan, 'How do you say "kiss my ass" in German?" He tells her, and she repeats it. He says, 'You just said, "I'm going home next."' Josie, don't you know that anything you say in German comes true?"

Mary Alice from Charm City Cakes for the Baltimore Sun on chicken: "Jon admonishes Josie for pitching her dish as 'Southern Style' when it's served on a banana leaf. Jon says in the South she would have been run out of town for such behavior. Michelle Bernstein, who was guest judge the last time Josie was sent home, couldn't bring herself to continue eating Josie's chicken: 'I had to put it down. I just ... I can't.'"

Allie is Wired on bullshit: "They move on to Stefan who defends that he doesn’t have a degree in Fried Chicken 101 because he didn’t grow up in America. Tom immediately points out that Wolfgang grew up in Austria and doesn’t have a problem whipping up a batch. Stefan then jumps to the defense that he wanted to put a twist on the concept. Padma isn’t buying it and asks how Chicken Cordon Bleu is a twist. He shuts up at that point as Padma notes he is a 'such a bullshitter.'" Posted on AllTopChef.com

All Top Chef Interview with Josie Smith-Malave

Top Chef Seattle contestant, Josie Smith-Malave talks about her experience on the show.

A highlight:  

ATC:   What have you been doing since we saw you in season 2?

JSM:  I've been building an empire.  Right now we have a pop-up location in San Francisco.  I have teamed up with a music venue called Thee Parkside.    It's called Global Soul Corner, we have just extended our lease.

I have also teamed up with some people to do a popsicle business.  We have some really inventive popsicle flavors.  We are working out the details to expand.

I'm also working on a couple of cooking shows.

I have been traveling the world...eating...learning about other cultures, not just food.  I have really had the chance to grow as a person and really to hone my future.

ATC:  What is the most intriguing flavor of popsicle that you have invented?

JSM:  I call it the dirty chocolate cake.  It's like a fudgsicle with a hint of chiles and of course, bacon...

Click here for the full interview.

Click here to visit Josie's website.

Thank you Chef Josie!

Posted on AllTopChef.com

ATC Love to Chef Josie Smith-Malave

This season, Chef Josie Smith-Malave was a controversial character, both among her fellow cheftestants and in the blogiverse. But she battled hard in this, her second try at the Top Chef title, even winning a Quickfire Challenge early on. Alas, the big win was not to be for Chef Josie, and she was sent home for improperly cooked - albeit flavorful - fried chicken, something she thought she had in the bag.

There's still Last Chance Kitchen and Save-a-Chef, so we may be seeing Chef Josie yet again this season!

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Congratulations, Chef Joshua Valentine!

It took twelve challenges and several failed attempts at pork dishes before Chef Joshua Valentine won an Elimination Challenge, but he won big this week, for his fried chicken dish wowed not only Padma and Tom, but other big chef guns like Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, David Chang, Vinnie Dotolo, and John Shook.

Congrats, Chef Josh - you are one of the final five and are headed on a cruise to Alaska. Good luck and don't get seasick!

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Reactions to Top Chef Seattle Episode 12

This week's episode was much more palatable than last week's. Also less dramatic.

The Quickfire Challenge featured renowned sushi master Katsuya Ueshi, who required that the cheftestants make delicious sushi for him. Quite an undertaking, and not everyone turned out a pleasing dish. Josh used bacon in his sushi, which Katsuya found to be too greasy. Stefan, however, is an old hand at raw fish preparation and stole the show with his yellowtail and shiitakes. Unfortunately, there's no more immunity, so he had to settle for five grand in prize money instead.

Out went Katsuya and in came Tom Colicchio with Momofuku's David Chang. Tom has rented a house in Seattle and has invited a bunch of cronies to hang with him while he's being bored on Top Chef. He wants the cheftestants to cater a little dinner party for his guests and the main dish must be fried chicken.

Not everyone is familiar with classic American fried chicken, at least that's what Lizzie claims. Stefan also suggests that they don't eat fried chicken in Europe. The excuse worked for Lizzie, whose chicken dish got her into the top three, but failed for Stefan, who was on the bottom for his lame chicken cordon bleu. Brooke also failed miserably, as did Josie, who really thought she had this challenge in the bag. Instead, Josh made the best fried chicken of the bunch, inspired by his grandfather's paper-bag-floured bird. And finally, we see the end of Josie.

Unless she wins Last Chance Kitchen or Save-a-Chef. Hey - it can happen.

So what did you think about this episode? Fear for Brooke's cooking life? Please leave a comment.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Recap Roundup - Top Chef Seattle Episode 11

A Just Recompense on Josie: "Back in the Stew Room, Josie says something about being an easy target. Oh, don’t go looking for sympathy. Yes, you’re an easy target because you’ve shown grand incompetence throughout. You’re the reason I’m hoping Kuniko continues to hold on via Save-A-Chef. Now you’re the reason Kristen’s going to Last Chance Kitchen to run into the buzzsaw that is CJ. You’ve served raw turkey, you’ve been unable to keep up with live service twice, and now you’re unable to roast bones when that’s all you have to do. Lizzie got her bones roasted, what’s your excuse? Don’t you dare play the 'pity me' card. Look at Kristen: that’s how someone with class handles it."

Minxeats on Kristen's sins: "Sheldon's team goes back to stew, and Kristen and Josie are read the riot act over the bouillabaisse. Rather than throwing Josie under the bus for her slow-poke sauce-making, Kristen falls on her sword. It's her fault that someone else's dish tasted like shit, and also that she called two dishes something they weren't. TWO DISHES. That's practically grounds for beheading in Top Chefland. And rather than kicking off someone who has barely been hanging on for the run of the show, the judges send Kristen home. Stefan is verklempt, and he tells her he loves her."

Eater on Stefan and the judges: "He makes them all feel stupid and it is kind of amazing how offended they all are. I understand he did a bad thing here, and no one likes to be made to feel dumb by their server, but it seems to me that part of their shock is because these five judges, when they are in a restaurant, never get made to feel like anybody but somebody famous and important. I am almost impressed that Stefan had the gall to treat them exactly like how anybody dining out in New York feels often. Tom says that people go to restaurants for food and they return for hospitality. 'I don't know if I'd return to this restaurant.' Padma has maybe never been treated this way in her life and she loses her mind. 'He should go home for the service he gave me!' and she shrieks it like the way a spoiled medieval prince would demand a beggar child's hands be cut off for touching the prince's cape."

HitFix on bravery: "Oh my Lord, Sheldon is putting balut on his menu? If you're not familiar with them, these are fertilized duck embryos. There are beaks and feathers and, well, they're a little extreme for the American see-no-eyeballs, eat-no-beaks mentality. Fortunately, Sheldon is putting a modern twist on this. I'm assuming this means no baby bird beaks."

Grub Street on the undoing of Atelier Kwan: "Speaking of loathing: It turns out that Josie’s stock isn’t ready when Kristen expected it; the wheels are starting to fall off Atelier Kwan. Josie offers a bunch of mumbo jumbo about patience and layering broth and whatnot. I’ve heard enough from this delinquent debutante — I want to shake the screen: 'Josie! Just have shit done by the time you say it’ll be done!' Josie hasn’t even added the gelatin to the boullebase(?)! Kristen, barely keeping the top of her head attached, tells Josie to use cream and soy milk instead. I’m not sure what’s more of a turn-off: The fact that they were planning to use gelatin in their sauce, or the fact that they’re replacing it with soy milk. When did French cooking lose its way? Are they really putting pudding pops in their beef sauces these days?"

Allie is Wired on conspiracy? "Back at the digs, Josie smokes a cigarette with Stefan and Josh as she reveals Kristen wants to cook everything to order. She laughs smugly as she knows she is painfully slow. The boys also smile smugly knowing that Josie will be the death of Kristen’s vision."

Mary Alice from Charm City Cakes for the Baltimore Sun on hmmm: "Game day: Prep commences and the chefs really have their work cut out for them. Brooke will be taking on front of house for the girls' team, as she and her husband 'have opened four restaurants.' Which makes me wonder: All these chefs are constantly touting how many restaurants they've opened, but they never actually mention of any of them are still open."

Entertainment Weekly makes a good point: "osh made a more presentable version of it by using a normal unfertilized egg and putting duck confit and foie gras mousse inside of it. Tom said it didn't taste Filipino or remotely like balut, but it still tasted good. Didn't Kristen get reamed for making a beef Bourguignon that tasted good but didn't match the standard definition of Bourguignon? Didn't Gail 'expect' balut but get something different? Lines are being blurred. Maybe the judges were just so relieved not to be eating real balut."

Posted on AllTopChef.com

All Top Chef Interview with Kristen Kish

Top Chef Seattle contestant, Kristen Kish talks about her experience on the show.

A highlight:

ATC:  The viewers certainly saw that Josie was slow and you had to make concessions for her lack of expertise, but the judges didn't see any of that.

KK:  Right, and that's okay.  I mean that is part of my job, to communicate and to get my point of view across.  I just didn't want to stand up there and fight.  It would have been a losing battle anyway.

ATC:  You showed a lot of integrity.

KK:  I hope so.

ATC:  Knowing that you beat CJ in Last Chance Kitchen gives us all hope that we will see you again in the finale.

KK:  Thank you, I hope so too.

Click here for the full interview.

Click here to learn more about Stir.

Thank you Chef Kristen.

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