Top Chef – Hubert Gets Kinky, Rick Is A Sweetie, Anita’s Fish Are Suspect And A Defense Of Michael - YEAH! That’s what I said! Wanna fight about it?!

I admit I’m a little concerned. Michael Chiarello didn’t send out a little note urging us to watch the latest Top Chef Masters. I’m hoping that doesn’t mean anything.

The chefs enter the kitchen and Kelly reminds them that this is their last Quickfire Challenge. It is? I forgot that the final has 3 chefs in it. I’m going to miss this series of Top Chef when it’s over and, in particular, my Michael.

The Quickfire is again one from a previous Top Chef. They have to taste and identify 20 things blindfolded (that IS kind of gross and goes against everything that my mother always warned me about).

Hubert is worried, because he says zat a chef eets first with his eyes. Kelly says someone or other won when she identified an umeboshi plum. Michael laughs and says to his fellow chefs, “I’ve never even HEARD of it.” Rick is relieved he doesn’t have to come up with a dish in 30 minutes. Anita admits that last week it could have been her as easily as Art chosen to go.

MC goes first. He does abysmally. How could he not know what hoisin sauce tastes like? And he does equally badly with any other Asian ingredient. He admits he works with “a narrow scope of ingredients”. This may be bad news for Mikie. Oy!

Hubert a little kinky? Yup, when he says “Kelly putting the blindfold on me… that was probably the best part of the challenge.” He seems to be doing pretty well.

Even Anita misses the hoisin sauce, by the way.

The results: Hubert guessed 5 correctly which gave him 3½ stars; Rick and Anita both guessed 6 right. They get 4 stars. And Michael? He wins by guessing 7 correctly. He receives FIVE stars! Yay!!!

Kelly says being a chef means hiring the right staff and they’ll be provided with some sous-chefs to help them. They get to choose among 12 former contestants and they have to cater a lunch the next day for 200 people. The chefs are allowed to interview each sous-chef for 2 minutes before they make their selections.

Michael has the brilliant idea of asking each chef to chop for him. SO smart. Wait a sec. He IS coming off a bit hard-bitten. Jamie is scared by him.

Rick and Hubert are all palsy-walsy with the chefs. Rick wants to know what their experience is with Mexican food. Hubert wants to know about French food and pastry experience. Anita likes Jamie, because she used to work for him.

Michael keeps asking the chefs to demonstrate their chopping. Fabio is there. THAT’S nice. He says, ”I can tell this dude is Italian, ‘cause he’s making everybody running around him like chicken with no head.” Michael's busy ordering the chefs to do a brunoise out of batons.

Spike is giving MC a hard time about dicing. Spike assures him that he knows how to do it. Mike tells us that there he is no way he’d pick Spike.

Wow, this is a different side to Michael. We’ve only seen him as a host and fantastic chef so far. We’ve never seen him as a boss. MC then asks every chef what his (Michael’s) name is. Is he testing them to say Chiarello correctly or does he want them to say chef? A little of both it looks like. Richard Blaise, molecular gastronomy guy, says Michael is really annoying.

The chefs get to pick their sous-chefs in rounds. Betty says everyone loves Chef Hubert Keller and wants to be with him and no one wants to be with Michael Chiarello. She mispronounces his name. See? He was right to test them.

Michael gets to pick first. He picks Fabio. Rick picks Richard. Anita picks Jamie. Hubert picks Antonia first. Betty is picked second to last. And Spike is completely last. Spike says he’s not bothered. He says obviously the chefs didn’t want him to outshine them. Yeah, sure, Spike, keep thinking that.

Rick and Hubert ask the opinions of the sous-chefs in what to make. They’re so nice. What a pair of Goodie-Two-Shoes…Just kidding. Michael TELLS his sous-chefs what to do. He says he doesn’t have time to get to know them, culinarily speaking.

2 members of each team go to Whole Foods and the others go to Restaurant Depot. They get back to the kitchen and they have 3½ hours to prep. Everyone but Michael rushes to cram their stuff in the fridge. Michael calls Dale “Young Man” as he’s telling him to make room in the fridge. Dale takes issue with that. “For the first 20 years of my career, I ate 3 Dales for breakfast. He is way out of his league.” Dale gets in his face and we don’t actually see what happens. It's kind of anticlimactic, but I guess Michael walked away.

Hubert says he likes to mentor his employees and that Michael has a different approach. Michael says (to us), “I want to get in the finals, damn it.”

I feel ambivalent here. I suppose it’s true that if any other chef were acting the same way, I’d call him or her out. But I really do think that that was clever of Michael to want to see the chefs dice. Knife skills do tell a lot.

I want to digress just a sec, in defense of my Mikie.

When I got out of cooking school and came back to New York, I was looking for my first restaurant job (before I realized that in NO WAY did I want to cook in a restaurant for a living). I walked into one restaurant and the chef didn’t have a job, so he called a friend of his - the VERY famous (and French) Michel Fitoussi and asked him if he knew anyone with a job.

I went over to see him, and Chef Fitoussi asked where I went to cooking school. THEN the only other thing he asked of me was to chop an onion.

I passed his test, because he could see that I been taught properly, i.e. the FRENCH way: Trim the onion, cut in half and peel, make the first cuts horizontal to the work surface, second ones perpendicular, then chop.

BTW, I had a job with a friend of his 2 hours later and ever since then, I've always looked at chopping style as a clue to a chef’s training. (Don’t tell anyone, but I mostly do NOT chop onions that way anymore…unless a chef is watching.)

One other thing. This is kind of what I was hoping for. I wanted to see the REAL Michael. I wanted to see how he was. How he operated. What he was like.

Yeah, he was a bit of a brute. But he wasn’t in his own kitchen and he had been presented with a bunch of underlings and his first response was to LEAD them. To be a chef. That’s WHAT a chef is. You can’t be a chef ALONE in your kitchen. It literally means CHIEF, leader or boss. (Oh! Am I yelling? Sorry.)

You could argue that he could have led more effectively, but you’re not going to get any Michael-hating here. I prefer to think of it like this: It’s not that HE was super-bad, it was that the others were super-nice. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Blais is such a ninny. He describes Rick’s cooking and his own as being “rustic Mexican meets molecular gastronomy”. Was it on Top Chef that some judge once referred to molecular gastronomy as being soul-less? I don’t necessarily agree with that, but I do think a one trick pony gets a bit old.

Anita realizes she’s made a mistake picking Jamie, because she’s taking too long cleaning the seafood for the raw bar. Jamie tells us Anita isn’t organizing well and that the chef still hasn’t told them what’s on the menu.

Why is there a commercial for the new season of Top Chef next Wednesday? Are they showing that and the finale of the TCM on the same night? Yup, that’s exactly what they’re doing. And they’re supersizing the first episode of Top Chef Las Vegas and giving only 45 minutes to Top Chef Masters.

Kelly comes in the next day with 2½ hours to go and tells them there’s a twist. OH no, please don’t make it that the sous chefs are switching teams and Michael is getting Dale! PLEASE NO!

Anita looks REALLY po’ed. Think Jamika having her pineapple taken away from her.

Kelly says the location of their lunch has been changed to the SLS Hotel and they have 30 minutes to pack up all their food and then 2 ½ hours to finish cooking. Whew, I’m actually relieved. They stay on their same teams. Unfortunately, though, the lunch is being served outside, which they didn’t know. Richard says Michael is going crazy and Rick is being calm and cool. Richard, stop being such a little tattle-tale and just do what you have to do!

Kelly shows them the space and it’s completely in the sun. Anita says she would never have chosen a raw bar. THEN Kelly says they have to get rid of one sous chef. Fabio remarks, “I’m sweating like a mountain goat at the beach and she’s telling us we have to get rid of one chef.”

Michael is nice when he gets rid of Brian, because he had finished his mis en place. Hubert gets rid of Spike. Rick deep sixes Betty and Anita is almost gleeful to ditch Jamie.

They all get it done. These Hollywood types show up with the critics. Richard says Michael’s food looks like a wedding from 1987. He mispronounces his name.

Rick is calm as a cucumber as he serves folks. Hubert is completely charming. Michael is not happy with the way his table looks.

The critics go to Anita’s table first and Kelly goes through the rigamarole of introducing the critics.

Anita - Asian Buffet With An Array Of Sauces & Condiments

Jay LOVES the braised pork rib, but isn’t sure there are enough good dishes on her buffet.

Michael - Rustic Italian Buffet

Gael doesn’t love the TASTE of the risotto, but she’s impressed with the cooking. They all agree the swordfish is odd and perhaps a bit old.

Hubert - 18 dish buffet

Hubert pulls out all the stops and prepared a huge buffet, including a Vietnamese Gazpacho. We never learn exactly what’s in it, but I love the idea of a gazpacho with Southeast Asian flavors. He says to us he would be disappointed to go home, because he thinks things went well. The judges are super impressed with his dishes. Hubert thanks his sous chefs. (He would.)

Rick - Mexican Food Buffet

His dishes sound really good. Among them are an avocado bar, a tortilla soup and a pork dish. Rick gives Richard full credit for the avocado ice cream. Beautiful and wonderful say the critics. Rick says he couldn’t have asked for a better team. They’re really emphasizing that Rick and Hubert are nice guys and Michael? His approach was “different”, as Hubert said.

At Critics Table, Rick tells the critics that the best part of the challenge was getting to know his sous chefs. Is he really that nice? Closeup on Michael. Gael loved the shrimp with nuts and figs. Jay comments favorably on the avocado ice cream. He’s impressed that Rick let Richard run with it. Close up (again) on surly Michael.

Jay says Hubert presented a staggering array of dishes. Hubert says he wanted to make a feast with lots of things for people to taste. (Even I can tell that my MC is not coming off well in comparison to these two – they’re a cross between Mother Theresa and your favorite 3rd grade teacher.)

James: ”It didn’t taste like a thousand bucks. It tasted like a million bucks.” (More Michael close-ups, but more importantly, why are James’s lapels so shiny?)

Gael tells Anita her ribs were fabulous. The critics tell her that the raw bar might not have been a good idea under the circumstances and Anita says she didn’t have time to change her menu.

The critics’ questioning of Michael is weird and he’s a little weird. (See? I can be objective.) Kelly asks him if he was happy. He says - way too fast and without a trace of a smile - “I thought it worked out just fine”.

A little glimmer of his charming personality comes back when James asks him what he thinks was his most successful dish. He says the risotto. James says he did not like the taste of the shrimp. Michael takes that okay. Jay says there was a general question mark over the swordfish. He says he kept it hot and maybe that contributed to its texture. Gael says it tasted like old swordfish.

Rick made a point of telling us earlier that his sous chef suggested he go to the fish counter immediately to get the best fish. I guess Michael’s sous chefs could chop, but he didn’t quiz them on their common sense.

Kelly says the olive oil cake was too oily. MC says it needed more time in the oven and he had instructed his sous-chef to cut it only from the edge. Kelly asks how it was working with the Top Chef contestants. He says “My colleagues have more guts than I do. Cause I wouldn’t know how to say, here why don’t you go and take a dish?” Remember these are sous chefs that he doesn’t know.

The chefs go to wait in the kitchen. Jay says Rick was in his comfort zone today. They were all impressed with his cooking and his managing of his staff.

About Hubert, Jay says, “There was an immense precision in what he did. Inspired gazpacho.”

Okay, I have prediction. It’s not what I thought or hoped would happen. I predict that Hubert will take the big prize next week. He simply has it all. He’s unflappable. His cooking is flawless and his big advantage – he’s French.

Jay says there was a misstep in Anita’s menu. James: “Every dish had some kind of fundamental inadequacy to it.” Uh-oh what are they going to say about Michael?

Jay: ”There were ups and downs.” The critics didn’t like the prawn or swordfish. The olive oil cake was oily too. They don’t sound quite as down on Michael as on Anita, but who knows? I would say Anita is going home.

During the commercial is the answer to their quick poll question - Who would win a fist fight, Michael or Dale?

(Do they mean against each other or if they were fighting some random other person?)

1. Michael 74%

2. Dale 11%

3. It’s be more like a catfight 15%

(I don’t even know what that last thing that means.)

The chefs are called back in.

The critics tell Hubert and Rick they are the top finishers.

Rick

Quickfire 4

Diners 4½

James 4½

Gael 4

Jay 4½

Total 21 1/2

Hubert

Quickfire 3½

Diners 3½

James 5

Gael 5

Jay 5

Total 22

Hubert is the winner and he says the sous-chefs came up with some good stuff.

Anita

Quickfire 4

Diners 3

James 3

Gael 3½

Jay 3½

Total 17

Michael

Quickfire 5

Diners 3½

James 3

Gael 4

Jay 4

Total 19½

Whew!!! Thank goodness. Anita is told to pack her knives. Anita says the others were charming, and she’ll miss them.

In the previews in the final scene, Hubert looks 10 years younger.

I really think the three chefs that remain are the ones that should be there. And, alas, I do feel quite sure that Hubert will win, but I would love to be wrong.

Top Chef Masters - From An Enormous Hamburger To Rice Milk Ice Cream

The week has gotten away from me. But, MC, please know that I watched every single second of you last week on Top Chef. Here’s the proof:

They called Michael a maestro as they introduce all the chefs. I like that.

They come into the Top Chef kitchen greeted by a huge table, laden with hamburgers and French fries. Art is afraid they’ll have to cook from those actual ingredients.

The Quickfire is all about burgers, Kelly says, with her hair looking particularly thick and luxurious. Rick tells us that when he makes them for his family they never turn out. Hubert tells the group that he has a $5000 dollar Fleur Burger (with a wine pairing) on his menu. I hope that price tag includes the table it’s served on…AND the chair.

I have to say I didn’t like my Mikey joking with Hubert about his Frenchness and then saying (to us) in a fake French accent that Hubert has worked in more Michelin starred restaurants than Michael has eaten at. First of all, HE doesn’t have to feel at all inferior to Hubert and secondly, let’s face it, in the kitchen, being French is a huge advantage.

Kelly introduces the judges as Art says he smells a rat - a big one. The judges are Spike Mendelsohn from season 4 Top Chef and owner of the DC burger joint, Good Stuff Eatery, Sang Yoon of Father’s Office – voted best burger on The Today Show and Morgan Spurlock, maker of the fabulous Super Size Me documentary.

We’ll have to find out if it matters that Rick judged Spike in season 4. (Oh good, the judges don’t know whose burgers they’ll be tasting.) The chefs have one hour to create a burger and side dish. Anita says she’s tired. Michael says there’s a lot of pressure as he makes a 2½ lb burger(!) Rick is doing 3 different flavors of guacamole.

Art is making a hoe cake to go with the burger. Hubert is under pressure because he sells over a thousand burgers a day. Anita is doing something outside of the burger box…Hmmm, will she be the genius this week or the goat? Michael’s burger is HUGE!

Rick - Queso Fundido Burger With Trio Of Guacamole

Sang: “You had me at guacamole.” I feel the same way! Morgan likes the flavor and Sang (I think) says you don’t need three dishes of guacamole. Spike agrees. Rick is outraged because it doesn’t seem as if they know those are 3 DIFFERENT guacamoles. Morons!

Art - Cornmeal Hoecake Burger With Fried Green Tomatillos & Coleslaw

These chefs are AWESOME! Do you REALLY think they do this all in an hour? It’s really amazing. It would take me a half hour to walk over to the fridge, stand in front of it and look inside to see what I wanted to make.

Spike says Art’s is bursting with flavor. He says he wouldn’t change a thing and that this represents who the chef is and he loves it.

Michael - “Hamburgese Enorme” With Truffle Manchego Potato Chips

The judges laughingly call it an interactive burger, because they can cut off however much they want and serve it themselves. Morgan: “Great burger, pretty delicious.” Sang: It has “the flavor of a great steak”. Spike loves it too. Hold on! Is there any burger (anywhere!) that Spike wouldn’t love?

Anita - Cheddar Soup With Grilled Burger, Ketchup Crouton & Bacon Fried Onion Rings

Incredible! It takes longer than an hour just to SAY everything that Anita is making!

Ooh, trouble. As it’s put down and they see it’s not a standard burger, Morgan says, “Uh-oh!” Some of their not-so-great comments: “Burger shake.” “It’s like a wish burger. You WISH there was a burger.” “Boiled meat.” Sang says he appreciates creativity but “when you think of a burger, you think of something soul-satisfying.“ These fellows obviously did not get Anita’s higher level of thinking that went along with her cooking.

Hubert - Beef & Roquefort Cheeseburger With Caramelized Onions & Rustic Potatoes

Sang: “This is visually very appetizing.” Morgan: “Like a tower of fun.” I don’t remember any other judges having this much fun and getting into the challenge as much.

Sang likes the cheese, Morgan does too, but he thinks the cheese is overpowering the taste of the burger. Spike says it’s lacking in wow factor. Hubert suggests to his fellow chefs taking Spike up to the roof and Rick suggests pushing him off.

Hubert is disappointed by the comment, because he says people just LOVE that burger at the restaurant.

The scores:

Hubert 3 stars

Art 3½ stars

Anita 1½ stars

Michael 4 stars

Rick 4 stars

Rick is pleasantly surprised.

For the Elimination Challenge, they learn they’ll be catering a lunch party for Zooey Deschanel. Art says (again) I smell a rat. Zooey sends them a video message.

She tells them she’s a vegetarian and doesn’t eat meat, fish, eggs or dairy. The chefs yell out VEGAN! with the same gusto as if they were saying INFIDEL! THEN she says she’s gluten intolerant and eats no soy. Art: I WAS RIGHT! Vegan AND allergies!!! Quelle Horreur! They have to make a vegan lunch for 20 diners. Each chef has to make one dish.

Anita is at quite a disadvantage on account of her Quickfire low score. There is no way she can NOT go home, is there? They decide quickly and without dispute (THEY are such professionals) who is going to do which course.

Michael says to us this challenge is like thinking “of everything you love to cook and then just say no. No beef, no seafood, no dairy, no pasta. It’s off-putting to say the least.” Zooey DOES have magnificent looking skin.

Art isn’t comfortable making a vegan main course, so he decides to go with dessert. He BOUGHT a “beautiful” rice milk ice cream, which I guess he’ll serve with sticks or something (oh wait, sticks probably have too much bark on them). I don’t think that fake ice cream was a good choice.

Rick helps Michael out with some vegetable advice.

They have 2 hours to prep. Michael says he’s only done ONE other vegan meal in his life and it was for Hillary and he found out only just before that it was to be vegan.

They’re so clever. EVERYTHING sounds really good. Who needs dead flesh anyway?

Rick is worried (too!) that Art bought the rice ice cream. Art added some strawberry puree to it to try to rescue the flavor. I don’t see that being successful. I sure hope I’m wrong.

Michael helps Hubert to finish.

Zooey comes into the kitchen and thanks the chefs for cooking for her. Michael says she has to sing a few songs for them. (She’s sweet, but she doesn’t).

Folks arrive to lunch. All the Hollywood types are in black. Zooey says only her mom cooks for her.

Michael’s plates are about to fall off the table in the kitchen and Hubert helps him. Then as the waiters are serving Hubert’s plates with the little shooter glasses, they drop them and some break. Luckily, he had 2 extra. Dieu merci!

Hubert

White Gazpacho With Grapes And Vanilla Oil

Timbale Of Avocado & Asparagus, Roasted Beet Salad

That timbale is thing of beauty. These chefs are superhuman.

Zooey LOVES the soup. The diners, in general, don’t like the avocado. Gael said the beet salad was extraordinary.

Anita

Spicy Grilled Eggplant With Lentil Salad & Cashew Sauce

The eggplant looks like an overly grilled sausage (or something worse) and it looks dry. The cashew sauce, which could be fabulous, is just a smear on the plate. She DID manage to plate the lentil salad into a square.

Zooey says the eggplant is a little too spicy. Her peeps says it's too spicy as well.

Michael

Quinoa Pasta With Salsa Verde & Pine Nut Gremolata, Tomatoes & Crispy Basil Leaf

Does that sound too simple and with not enough elements? I hope they think it’s rockin’.

Michael comes out and is sooo charming. He really has such a winning smile and way about him. He’s such a complete package, by which I mean he has cooking chops AND charm.

Zooey really likes the pasta. It's just like coming home her mother and she say at about the same time. Gael says it’s her first time having quinoa pasta and she loves it. James says he cooked it well – as dente. Zooey wants to hug him. ME too! Michael is definitely staying this week. I can relax now.

Rick

Sweet Corn Tamales With Chili-Braised Black Beans, Braised Greens & Glazed Mushrooms

Zooey: “These are probably the best tamales I’ve ever had.” Gael: “So many things to taste.” “So nicely spiced,” Zooey says. “Really lovely”, she continues.

Art

Strawberry & Champagne Soup, Strawberry Rice Ice Cream & Almond Brittle

Zooey says she loves ice cream, but she says she’s had better vegan ice cream and then everyone starts dumping on the ice cream. ART! We all told you! Jay says he should have gone for sorbet. Zooey said the whole dinner was lovely.

Hubert says all five of them should win.

Michael says Rick reminds him of the professor on Gilligan’s Island. Art says he’s such a perfectionist. Rick admits he is absolutely meticulous.

At Critics Table:

Of Hubert, Gael says there was a kind of gasp of appreciation and that she was wildly in love with the gazpacho. “The avocado in the middle felt like a lull,” Jay says.

James is surprised that Anita’s eggplant had not been fried. She doesn’t give an inch. She says she soaked it in oil overnight. Jay says the people at the table criticized that the two main ingredients weren’t brought together and that the cashew cream wasn’t enough to do it.

Anita says almost sullenly that it’s subjective. I think she isn’t too interested when you don’t get her food. Gael says the plate was sad looking. Anita says she didn’t want to overcomplicate the dish. Is it becoming clearer that she’s going home? It is to me.

James says admiringly that Michael seems very confident. (Well, most hot men ARE!) Michael says Italian food doesn’t have to rely on meat. The critics like his dish a lot. Jay asks him about buying the pasta instead of making it. You can tell MC thinks they’re insane for questioning that, because in Italy chefs always buy hard pasta from the artisan who made it.

Rick says traditional Mexican food has a lot of vegetable dishes in it. Jay (or was it James?) says it was a true delight. Jay says his only problem was that it was a bit ungainly.

Art wanted something delicious, but not overcomplicated. Gael says the rice ice cream was disappointing. Art agrees. Jay asks him about it. He says he bought it. Jay says, “YOU BOUGHT IT? He says he asked Michael about buying the pasta, so he has to ask Art about dealing with a possibly inferior store-bought product.

Art gets really testy: “I’m not going to make something I don’t know how to make without a recipe. Of course, I know how to make ice cream. I know how to make sorbet.” Then James, wanting to placate him, says he’s amazed he made brittle without butter.

The chefs are excused to the kitchen. They drink.

Gael says she loved seeing the excitement of THE VEGANS. Every time Gael says “the vegans”, it sounds like she’s saying “the aliens”. Funny. Jay loves the explosion of color.

Jay says Hubert did amazing things with those beets. “Anita didn’t shine today, “Jay says. Gael says the cashew puree was cool and sweet. James was not impressed with the eggplant. Jay says, "There was a failure of execution.” Anita is definitely on the firing squad.

Jay says he forgot he was eating a vegan dish, when he had Michael’s pasta. James says it was delicious, although he didn’t like that it was store-bought. Jay says there was nothing wrong with it.

Rick says their questioning the pasta is not smart.

They loved Rick’s dish, even though James says it needed to be pulled together.

Gael thought Art’s dish was messy and the rice ice cream was a failure.

The results: Hubert, Michael and Rick have the highest scores.

Hubert

Quickfire 3

Diners 4

James 4

Gael 4 1/2

Jay 3 1/2

Total 19

Michael

Quickfire 4

Diners 4.5

James 4

Gael 5 Michael blows her a kiss…of course he does.

Jay 4.5

Total 22

Rick

Quickfire 4

Diners 3.5

James 3.5

Gael 4

Jay 4

Total 19

Michael is this week’s winner. Yay!!! His charity will get another $10,000. They can all return to the kitchen

Anita

Quickfire 1.5

Diners 2.5

James 2.5

Gael 3.5

Jay 3

Total 13

SHE must be going home, because of her low Quickfire score.

ART

Quickfire 3.5

Diners 3

James 1.5

Gael 2

Jay 2.5

Total 12.5

OMG, ART is going home! What just happened?!! That really stinks. Kelly seems really sorry to tell him he has to pack up his knives. That really stinks. Really…

This is going to be interesting. Next week, my boy, Dale, talks smack to Michael. How will a Dale-lover like me react to that?

Top Chef Masters - The Magic Of An Egg

Sorry, this post is so late. We were away. Definitely more about that in a later post.

Douglas Rodriguez is the first chef out of the gate. I remember him from Patria, which is now closed. Ola, Miami is one of his restaurants. Chef Rodriguez calls his cooking “tortilla-free Latin cooking”. Others call it Nuevo Latino. Ayuda For The Arts is his charity.

Anita Lo, from Annisa in NY, has a Michelin star. “Critic” James says she works the line a lot, which will give her advantage here. She’s playing for SHARE.

John Besh is from New Orleans. He’s sweet. He’s been on Top Chef before. He has 4 or 5 restaurants with ”snazzy Cajun flair”. His charity is the Make It Right Foundation (Brad Pitt’s charity) to rebuild New Orleans.

Mark Peel of Campanile in Los Angeles started his career with Wolfgang Puck. He’s very passionate about Doctors Without Borders and that’s his charity today.

Kelly comes in and tells them the Quickfire Challenge – Create an egg dish with one hand behind their backs. The judges for this challenge are Gail Simmons, Terry Reish from Chino Valley Egg Ranch and Monica May, executive chef, The Nickel Diner. They have to put an oven glove on the hand they won’t be using. They have 25 minutes.

Douglas makes an arepa from scratch.

Wow, this is interesting. Mark Peel’s father was born with one arm and he watched him his whole life. He says if his father could do it, he knows HE can. He wants to do something out of the ordinary. He’s making a fresh duck egg pasta with a light egg olive oil cream sauce.

John Besh is working on Eggs Over Easy Topped With Asparagus.

Anita is having problems cooking one handed and cutting the tops off the shells to use a holder for her eggs. She’s making scrambled eggs with truffles and oyster sauce.

They're all having problems finishing their dishes in time.

Douglas – Open-Faced Corn Cake With Scrambled Eggs And Ham

Gail: Delicious. Monica: Nicely cooked.

Mark - Fresh Duck Egg Pasta With An Egg And Olive Oil Cream Sauce

Judge Terry wants to know how he made the noodles with one hand. Monica: The texture of the noodles is really nice. Terry thinks it’s bland, though, and so does Gail. Mark realizes at that moment that he’s forgotten the olive oil.

Anita – Soft Scrambled Egg And Shitake Mushrooms With Truffle Oil And Oyster Sauce

Gail: I think it’s beautiful. Monica: It’s lovely. Terry says it may be eaten with a small spoon, but “it’s a big taste in your mouth”.

The judges discuss the dishes further. John’s eggs never finish cooking, which results in him only having ONE partially cooked cocotte for the judges to share. Gail says that part of John’s soft cooked egg tastes like burned grease. Terry says it tastes like a fried egg and nothing more.

Results:

Mark - 2 1/2 stars

John - ½ star

Is that the first time that’s ever happened anywhere??? He’s amazed he got THAT.

Douglas - 3 stars

Anita - 5 stars

The Elimination Challenge is to create a dinner for Neil Patrick Harris at The Magic Castle in Hollywood. Douglas is excited to cook for Doogie Howser. Max Maven is introduced. He’s a magician and mentalist.

They have to create dishes which are inspired by a card that they draw from Max. Mark gets Mystery. He thinks that a dish en papillote will be a good choice. Spectacle is the card Douglas draws. He wants to cook the dishes that he’s sure will get wows. John Besh gets Surprise and is going to use the liquid nitrogen tank.

Anita gets Illusion, which she says to her means you expect one thing and get something else. She’s going to do Illusion of a scallop. She says she’s not the most theatrical usually, but this will be fun. Mark says the guys feel she’s the one to beat.

They have 250 dollars to shop.

They get to work. John is cute and talks about his military service and how it came in handy during Katrina. Doug says his main mentor was Julia Child and that he watched her instead of cartoons. He’s doing 4 different preparations of duck.

Tom shows up to give them moral support. Douglas doesn’t give him any details of his dishes because he doesn’t want to give anything away.

Tom says they can tell any story they want with food.

Mark says it’s very tense working against the clock and it reminds him of the James Bond scene with the laser going close to his…well, whatever.

Anita is nervous that Douglas is smearing Sterno all over the outside of his coconuts.

Hold on, are those last two thoughts related in any way?

Mark has never been to the Magic Castle before. I didn’t know it was a private club.

Mark is happy he gets to go first with Mystery. John says his might flop, but it won’t be boring. Anita has a problem plating her food. Douglas says he hasn’t been behind the line in 15 or 20 years, but he’s having fun. The food they’re coming up with looks amazing.

Neil comes in with his buddies. Max tells them the building was built as a private home.

The critics are there - Gael, Gail and James. No Jay?

Mark – Mystery

Isn't that the name of that the name of that weird guy who "peacocks" to get women?

Tai Snapper In Parchment With Garlic Mashed Potatoes And Leeks With Scallion Oil And Dassai Sake

Neil says it’s so delicate. They toast to the first course.

John Besh - Surprise

He asks Neil to assist him with the liquid nitrogen in making a horseradish sorbet.

Salmon Tartare With Cauliflower Blini AND Salmon Roe Salad With Horseradish And Crème Fraiche Sorbet AND Tempura Fried Lobster Wrapped In Smoked Salmon

Neil says his horseradish sorbet ended up as a cream, not completely frozen, and he wasn’t too impressed. Others loved the surprise element of the dishes. Gael liked that he was so enthusiastic about the magic part.

Anita Lo - Illusion

Braised Daikon With Kombu Caviar And Steak Tartare

Btw, are they each doing a 3 course meal? I’m a little confused. No, it seems like they’re each doing just a one off presentation of whatever their theme is, but some of them are including quite few elements in each dish. This is a heck of a lot of food.

Neil says wow to Anita’s dish. It reminds one of the guests of the sawing-the-lady-in-half trick. Max thinks she nailed the illusion part. Someone doesn’t care for the daikon. Neil says this is easily his favorite. He loves the “accoutrements”. Show off!

The chefs in the kitchen are worried about Douglas’s Sterno flamed dishes. Douglas comes out and says to Gael Greene, “How are YOU?” He tells them to be careful of the flaming coconut.

Douglas – Spectacle

Spectacle Duck Four Ways - Oyster Ceviche With Duck Broth; Empanada With Foie Gras And Figs; Duck Breast With Butternut Squash; Duck Soup With Young Coconut

There’s a plate of fire and ice. Amazing. James is worried about the flames. Max thinks it’s a very impressive spread. Neil doesn’t like it. One of the magicians says he uses a duck in his act.

The judges get to stay for a show by a magician. Eww, he pulls something furry out of his hair.

Back to the Critics Room to be judged:

John wants to surprise the guests with tastes and textures. Gael says the blini being cold was a not-nice surprise.

Gael says that Anita’s dish was like a surrealistic painting. Gail loves it and says it adds to that trick of the senses.

Douglas says he wasn’t happy with the way his coconut dish worked. Gail asks if he has ever set fire to a coconut before. He says yes. Gael says his ceviche is classic and properly tart.

Mark says he was little stumped by his word, mystery. The critics like the paper package. Gail says the sake was the crisp note that went really well with the dish.

Gael thinks John was great in that he attempted to DO magic. She likes Anita’s approach to magic. Gael thinks Mark’s dish was wonderful. James does too.

Scores

John

Diners scores - 2½

Critics – James 3, Gael 3, Gail 3

Total 12 stars

Mark

Diners 4

Critics - Gael 4½, Gail 4, James 3½

Total 18½

John is dismissed to go back to the kitchen.

Douglas

Diners 3

Critics - Gael 2½, Gail 2½, James 2 stars

Total 13 stars

I don’t get that. I thought the only thing they didn’t like was that the soup needed salt. He’s dismissed too. Mark is up against Anita.

Anita

Diners 4 ½

Critics - Gail 4½, James 4, Gael 4½

Total 22½ stars

Anita wins! Douglas gives her a big bear hug. Mark says he’s taking away great appreciation for the talent of other chefs. Anita is kinda unhappy she has to do it all again in the final round.