So after the drama of last week, the chefs head off to Austin (Paul’s home, so he’s feeling pressure to represent his skills). There was an odd dating interlude as they drove there — Heather would take a night with Chef John Besh over immunity and 5000 bucks. Damn, girl. She may be 40 and single … but it’s immunity! Paul was also interrogated by Chris C. if he would be compatible with him. And then Grayson calls him “Malibu”, because he’s “beautiful” — guess that weight loss paid off. All while Ty-Lör looks on in confusion or apathy. And in the sob backstory of the night, dang, Paul used to be a marijuana dealer!
The Quickfire was a blatant attempt to integrate “social media” into the show, using acceptable tweeted suggestions as twists for the challenge. First it’s bacon, simple enough, but then it’s “make it into a hash!” Yeesh. Get it? Cause of HASHTAGS? And finally, each conchefstant has to pick a random ingredient and hand to another chef (I spotted sriracha hot sauce, maple syrup, lemon, and butter).
And of course, we get an awesome quote from Edward after getting some sriracha too: “I love Ty-Lör, he’s a great guy — but man, you suck!” Love it! The bottom was Ed’s bitter potato hash, Grayson’s boring shrimp puff, and Chris J’s corn puree with bacon… and SCALLOPS! (This week’s scallop count: 1) But Beverly does well with her pork belly (while Heather rolls her eyes, get a grip!) and Paul’s unusual multiple bacon wins! Awesome!
I enjoyed that little interlude with Grayson and Heather “pretending” to hit on Chris C. Right, the desperate single 40-year old and the girl who called him “beautiful”, totally faking that attention (ignore the red faces and shortness of breath). So for the Elimination, Patti LaBelle (why?) will be guest judge with returning awesome chef Emeril Lagasse. Patti ends up being a typical celebrity guest, occasionally clever, not that interesting in the end. The challenge was classic Top Chef emotional manipulation: make a dish to honor each chef’s culinary inspiration.
So a whole lot of grandmothers, with a few mothers and fathers thrown in for good measure — while Ty-Lör was inspired by his Japanese housekeeper? Um, sure. I enjoyed Edward’s tales of his grandmother with her “Shave your stupid beard” comment. Classic Edward’s grandmother, right? After some fun food served, the top three are Beverly’s inspired by her mother beautiful braised short ribs, Edward’s excellent vegetarian Bibimbap from his grandmother, and Sarah’s great sausage-stuffed cabbage — and Sarah wins! Considering she was crying earlier just thinking about her grandparents, she is quite happy to win it.
And then it’s the dreaded bottom three! Grayson had a ridiculous twelve ounce rib eye that was sinewy and spongy, Chris C.’s salmon was seared too quickly and overloaded on dill, and the horrible bully (dramatic rumble) Heather’s beef stroganoff was greasy and her dumplings were dry, chewy, and overcooked. This led to a great “it was like Big Foot on the plate, too bristly” from Patti.
But it’s that clearly badly cooked stroganoff that’s just too much, so as Beverly happily hides her smiles, Heather is sent off to face Nyesha in the online Last Chance Kitchen “Frying, Injecting, Foaming” challenge … Spoiler: Nyshea wins again! Watch for yourself to see why.
Clacked by Jeremy Fogelman 
on Dec 22, 2011 @ 11:56 EST5EDT
