Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Wedding Wars

Top Chef started with a little bit of mourning for our fallen hero, Mark the Kiwi. Then mean ol' Tom surprised the chefs at the quickfire...the dreaded relay prep race. I love monkfish, aka poor man's lobster, but man is that one ugly looking fish. So ugly that it's kind of pretty, actually. Dale's outburst at the end of the challenge reminded me of a time or two that I punched my locker in high school because I was pissed off about getting detention or something. Or the time a few months ago when I punched a door because Des was needling me.
Padma also disappointed by proclaiming a moratorium on Restaurant Wars for the season, in favor of Wedding Wars. Pretty bold move on the part of the bride and groom I guess, but a pretty lousy reward for winning the quickfire...the winning team got to choose whether to cater to the bride or the groom. Big deal. Were they given any clue as to which one had more challenging tastes or who would be most difficult to deal with? It didn't appear so. I don't see how that was such an 'important advantage' for the winners considering immunity was kaput.
The coolest part about Wedding Wars was the all-nighter the chefs were forced to endure, kind of like a spiritual journey inward, only less miles traversed. But a heck of a lot more food prepared. I'd like to try a brisket that was cooking for 24 hours, I bet it would fall apart when you tapped it with a fork.
Around 10:55 I remembered that this was an extra long episode, and the glass of wine I had with dinner had me feeling like I pulled an all-nighter...OK, maybe not really. But I'm ready for the judge's table.
So how about my main man Richard deferring the big win to Stephanie for her wedding cake heroics? Pretty classy move...maybe a little too classy. As it turned out, the judges liked the other team's cake better (not so much its look, but its flavor).
Dale and Spike got into a little spat at the judge's table, and I can't wait to read David Dust's description.
I personally didn't hate Nikki as much as everyone else seemed to, but I can definitely see why she deserved to go home. She didn't display the kind of leadership that a top chef needs to show. Yeah, pretty heavy stuff.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anyone else think they're keeping Dale in for "entertainment" value? After he won that text message poll, he's good for another week. However, I think he's gone from amusingly aggressively competitive to scary a--hole.

I'd say it was a boring episode. And Steve, I believe you've had my ribs, which are cooked for 12 hours...if not, BBQ in Cali!

Des, Andrew is growing on me!

Los said...

Leadershi????? Nikki begins by saying how the groom and she have similar pallets and likes (Italian food), and then after a while, when the other chefs are looking for direction, she slinks off into some corner, making her pasta ... I was so happy to see her and her blue glasses get the boot.

Dale has a ton of skill, but his lack of patience and teamwork may catch up to him. I thought it would be Richard and him at the finals, but I'm thinking Stephanie may have overtaken Dale for second place.

schue said...

I fell asleep.I'm sure I'll catch it like 10 times this weekend.
It's about time Nikki had to pack her knives and go. She should have been weeks ago, she screwed up macaroni and cheese and didn't have enough sausage and peppers to feed the judges.
I miss Mark.