Film Food

Top Chef - Season 4, Episode 4

Previously on Top Chef: The chefs cooked for a neighborhood block party. The show reminds us of Spike's "sabotage", as if it were a nefarious, devious plot. Stephanie won the Elimination Challenge by being one of the few chefs who didn't put forth disappointing food. The Red team was shocked to lose, and Erik took a walk for his soggy corn dogs. Thirteen chefs remain. Who will be eliminated tonight?

Opening menu. I made some popovers, just to get back in the swing of how to do them. Timiffany served up some sausage, cheese, and some delightful gourmet garlic crackers.

Limecrete: "Wow, I really like these crackers."
Tiffany: "Thanks, we like you, too."

Morning in Chicago. Jennifer brushes her teeth, while Zoi puts her earrings on. Manuel interviews that the house is a lot quieter without Erik, and that he was sad to see him go. He also says that he misses his kids back home. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no! You are not going to tell me that the guy who's had almost no screentime this season just got featured in the opening clip by talking about his kids back home. Could the editors be that lazy? Surely, this must be a trick! This is even more naked foreshadowing than Valerie saying she had a friend in the house. This is like the black guy saying "I'll be right back" in the second scene of a cheap slasher. Ugh.

Okay. So, now that the remainder of the hour has just been rendered completely pointless, let's continue. Jennifer reminds us that while others have left their loved ones behind, she and Zoi get to see each other every day. Because they're a couple. Have you heard they're a couple? Let me mention it again, in case you've missed it at the beginning of every single episode so far. Spike points out that having two people who understand each other's thought processes puts the rest of them at a slight disadvantage, which is all it takes to get someone booted. Good point. Everyone shuffles out for the day, as Manuel says "Nothing can stop me now!" No, he didn't really say that, but he may as well have. In fact, I think I'll pepper the rest of the recap with other fictional Manuel-tempts-Fate quotes, just to keep myself amused. Fucking "story producers".

The chefs come into the Kitchen for today's Quickfire Challenge. They're met by Padma, and this week's guest judge, Daniel Boulud. He's an award-winning chef who you may remember has graced our screens before. Luckily, he doesn't have to judge as stupid a Quickfire as he did last time. Today's Quickfire is to create a vegetable platter using at least three advanced culinary techniques. Interesting. Lisa's face falls. She tells us she doesn't like to do things classically. She uses the technique she feels is best for any particular moment. This sounds like a cover for not knowing any advanced culinary techniques to me. Eh, what do I know? Daniel mentions that both Ryan and Richard used to work for him, but promises that it won't affect his judging at all. Let's hope not, as Ryan interviews that he spent a very short time with Daniel, and that it wasn't his style. Translation: "I hated working there with a fiery passion." Padma starts the thirty-minute countdown.

The usual panic ensues. Nikki says that this is the challenge where she falls the shortest, as classical techniques are not in her background. She's going to give it the old college try, nonetheless. Manuel is intimidated by Daniel, but trusts his knife skills. "What could possibly go wrong?" he asks. Richard is in hog heaven. Showing off technique is basically his bread and butter. Zoi is nervous, but concentrates on combining complementary flavors. Lisa attempts to skin a cucumber, but looks over to see Dale doing the same thing, and much more smoothly. Spike goes for creativity, and whips out a tool that slices and curls scallions. People plate their food. Time runs out.

Padma and Daniel go down the line. I'm afraid advanced techniques means that a lot of unfamiliar words are being tossed around. I trust definitions can be hunted down by the curious. Zoi has shaved asparagus, poached egg, made batons of green beans, and a chiffonade of radicchio and frisee (endives). Daniel appreciates the paper thin chiffonade. Dale has made a vegan sashimi platter. He's marinated daikon in tobanjan, and made a tournee of avocado and cucumber. My spell check is going crazy. Both Daniel and Padma are severely impressed. Maybe I would be, too, if I understood what the hell Dale's talking about. Padma rotates some food towards herself, insisting that they look at the beautiful technique before tasting anything.

Kender: "Don't show US or anything."

Lisa has poached an egg, blanched some asparagus, made some batonettes of bell pepper, and grilled some zucchini. She sure wasn't kidding about not doing any advanced techniques. Unless grilling and poaching counts as advanced these days. Daniel points out that it's extremely basic. Richard's plate is beautifully presented. He has blanched some mushrooms, pickled beets, and has some sliced radish with lime juice and scallions. Spike's plate is much messier, but seems more technically advanced. He has a carpaccio of cucumber, a tagliatello of asparagus, a cucumber cup filled with bell pepper "confetti", and a tournee of mushroom.

Manuel has blanched asparagus with pencil tips, made a brunois of yellow pepper, has a supremes of lemon, and wrapped an endive leaf around some fennel frond. I have no idea what a "supremes" is, but Diana Ross is nowhere to be found. Daniel says that wrapping something in something else isn't really a technique; just a composition. Manuel sneers "So what? It's not like I'm getting eliminated tonight!" Nikki has blanched some green beans (very popular today, this blanching), made an asparagus quenelle, and also has a shaved fennel and radish salad. She's thrown in some grilled zucchini for color, but Daniel says that even if it's just presented for technical reasons, she should have seasoned it. She thanks him for the advice.

Results. Daniel says he wished everyone had taken five minutes to think of a plan before throwing themselves into this challenge. Bad news first. Nikki is in the bottom three for her unseasoned food. Lisa had no train of thought. Manuel's techniques were too basic. Now, to the favorites. Zoi's poached eggs were perfect, and integrated perfectly into the overall dish. Dale has amazing knife skills. Richard had amazing presentation. Daniel selects Dale for the win. Richard looks crushed. Dale is happy to bag his first win, not to mention the immunity that comes along with it. He gives the Standard Speech.

Elimination Challenge. Padma tells the chefs that they'll be creating a dinner wherein each course is inspired by a favorite movie. Antonia grins. She interviews that she's a total movie buff, so you'd think she could come up with a suitable inspiration. Not to give too much away. Ryan says that he's seen two movies in three years. Jeez, what does he do with all his free time? We know he's not reading up on food. Daniel says his favorite movie is Casablanca, which would inspire him to make Moroccan food. Anyhow, the dinner will have six courses, and is being hosted by Richard Roeper for Aisha Tyler. Yay, I love her. She was the best thing about Balls of Fury. Yes, I saw it in the theater. Hey, I can watch silly goofball flicks AND artistic cinema, you know. Stop judging me! The chefs will have two hours to prepare their food on-site before the first course is served, and they'll be working in pairs. Everyone draws a knife except for Dale. Because he won the Quickfire, he gets to choose which pair to join. The teams shake out to be:

First Course: Richard, Andrew, and Dale
Second Course: Spike and Manuel
Third Course: Nikki and Jennifer
Fourth Course: Mark and Ryan
Fifth Course: Antonia and Zoi
Sixth Course: Stephanie and Lisa

Antonia sees why Dale chose to be on a team with Richard, pegging him as her biggest competition. Dale agrees in interview that he's been wanting to work with Richard, and he also seems to want to do the first course, anyway. Andrew doesn't let the fact that he is no part of the reason Dale selected the team dissuade him from sniffing that "the weak choose the strong". Because...he's stronger than the two guys who just beat him in the Quickfire? He sure knows how to delude himself when it's handy.

Commercials. Nobody who owns a bulldog has a living room that tidy.

Richard recaps the challenge for us. He, Dale, and Andrew agree that Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is an easy movie to be creative with. Hey, make something with snozzberries! Manuel tells Spike that obviously, his inspiration would be something Mexican, like Like Water for Chocolate. Spike's never heard of it, and shoots him down, preferring to play to his own strengths with Vietnamese food. He picks Good Morning, Vietnam, and Manuel complacently agrees, saying that he doesn't mind going along with Spike's ideas, that he'll have some input as well, and that "everything's smooth sailing from here on out!" Jennifer and Nikki easily agree to do something Italian. They hit upon Il Postino as their inspiration, so they can do something romantic and rustic. Jennifer finds it odd to be competing directly with Zoi. Zoi and Antonia are getting along well, and decide to do Spanish food inspired by Talk to Her, which Antonia describes as being about "two very creative women". She doesn't mention how one of those women is raped and impregnated while she's in a coma. Yummy! I mean, it's a great movie, but not one that really screams "dinner", you know?

Ryan gives us a hint of the last few movies he's seen when he says he loves Dumb and Dumber. Mark prefers To Kill A Mockingbird. Heh. These guys are totally mismatched, although they certainly both hit upon movies that don't lend themselves well to food. Mmmm, laxatives! And try some of this delicious racism! Mark spits out a bunch of movies Ryan's never heard of, and Ryan just tunes him out until a Muse slaps him on the head, and he comes up with A Christmas Story, though he can't remember the title. That's actually not a bad idea, in that there's genuine food inspiration to be had from the scene where the turkey is ruined, and the family goes out for duck in a Chinese restaurant instead. Mark's, like, "Whatever, man". Lisa and Stephanie have seen this show before, and refuse to do dessert for the sixth course. Lisa tells the other chefs that they'll be making beef and short ribs, just so they know what to expect. She also picks the movie Top Secret, for its infamous cow scene. I confess I haven't seen that movie in a long time, but can guess at what happens to two guys in a cow suit. Stephanie's, like, "Whatever, man". There's a lot of that going around.

The chefs head to Whole Foods with $150 for thirty minutes of shopping time. I'm impressed by the pumpkin display by the front door. Dale interviews that the first course is going to be smoked salmon with faux caviar (made of soy tapioca pearls), and a wasabi white chocolate sauce. Like many others, I'm confused by the combination of wasabi and white chocolate, but will say that the food itself is very cleverly derived from the movie. Spike says that he's going to use simple ingredients, because you don't need something fancy to make something kick-ass. Manuel chooses sea bass, while Spike would have preferred to go with tilapia. The mask slips a little when Spike says that you have to "compromise with your employees", but swiftly recovers into "with the people that you're working with". Yeah, I think we know who's wearing the pants on this team. Manuel interviews that sea bass is perfect for the chili rub he's making for it, and that "there's no way this dish will be anything but perfect!"

Zoi and Antonia will be making rack of lamb with a cauliflower saffron puree, and a romesco sauce. Rack of lamb is really pricey, so Antonia knows that she'll have to be extra careful in portioning it out. Mark is frustrated to find that the store not only doesn't have turkey, but they don't have duck, either. They settle on quail, which I think actually gives their story a needed twist. It'd be too easy to say "they ate duck in the movie, so here's some duck". Mark is pleased, saying that quail can be more flavorful, anyway. They also load up on cranberries.

The next day, everyone gets ready for the Elimination Challenge. Andrew impersonates an Oompa Loompa, but refuses to go all the way and paint his face orange, like I did. Hey, Halloween is the cornerstone of my year. Andrew actually has the idea to do a dwarf imitation for the diners, which is a horrible idea, and which his team members thankfully talk him down from. The chefs head over to wherever it is they're serving dinner, and begin setting up in the kitchen. Mad chopping montage. Nikki and Jennifer tend their respective pastas. Richard steps up as the leader of his team, and seems willing to accept blame as well as credit. Spike and Manuel are working on a summer roll with chili-rubbed Chilean sea bass, and pickled Swiss chard. Ryan and Mark are humming along happily. Mark makes a spring roll to accompany the quail. Stephanie enjoys Lisa's organizational skills. They're making New York strip steak, braised short ribs, and an apple potsticker with caramel sauce. It's got the barest of ties to any movie, let alone the one they've chosen, but it sounds like a tasty course. Antonia and Zoi want to put a lot of color into their dish, but hold back when they think it would have too much influence on flavor. Richard breaks out the electric smoker again, but it gave its all for the crab cakes, and dies mere minutes before time runs out. Rut roh!

Commercials. Oh, good. I so missed these ads that imply that men have no idea how to do anything without making a huge mess. I promise not to get too graphic, but let me just say that I do part-time work in a restaurant, and often have to clean up in both the men's and women's restrooms. Guess which one is ALWAYS grosser? Here's a hint: It's not the men's.

Richard decides that the smoker was just going to provide something extra, and isn't necessary to make the dish successful. The diners come into the dining room. The judges are there, of course, and I'm peeved to see Ted is still standing in for Gail. Richard Roeper and Aisha Tyler are present and accounted for, as are some random people who are probably friends, girlfriends, etc. They start off with a champagne toast. Faux marquees hang over the table, the names of the six inspiration films listed on them. The first course team lights a piece of wood on fire, then holds the pieces of salmon above it, so that the fish gets smoked. That's pretty resourceful of them. Once it's done, they take the first course out. The salmon is barely seared, and there's a pear/celery soda as a play on the movie's Fizzy Lifting drinks. That scene scared the crap out of me when I was little. Everyone finds the wasabi/chocolate sauce surprisingly good, and are impressed by the creativity that went into the food.

Spike and Manuel bring out the second course. The summer rolls are stuffed with black vermicelli, green apple, bean sprouts, and the Chilean sea bass. There's also a piece of Swiss chard to the side, and a spoonful of something soup-like, which is never explained. "If you don't find this to be sheer heaven, I'll eat my hat!" Manuel shouts gleefully. Once they're gone, the diners tuck in. Daniel isn't wild about the fish, and Ted says they had the money to stuff the summer rolls with crab or lobster. Aisha says the roll wrapping was unusually thick. Ptom has no idea what the chard on the side is supposed to achieve. Padma grouses that they just wanted to do Vietnamese food, and picked the movie based off of that. Note that this criticism will not be leveled at Nikki, Jennifer, Stephanie, or Lisa, who did the same thing.

Romantic music greets Nikki and Jennifer as they serve the third course, which is presented with a small glass of wine for each diner. Their dish is tortellini with cavolo nero (a vegetable similar to kale), Ricotta and Pecorino cheeses, squash, and some peppercorn. Sounds great. The chefs are fairly meh about it, though they do not come up with any specific criticisms. Ted likes the rusticity, and Richard says that it's far better than the expert foodies at the table seem to think. He says it was wonderful, and Ted continues his quest to be the most whiny, defensive judge as he whines defensively that the judges have to be sticklers, and have to be as nitpicky as they can about the food. Yeah, because you have to have an extremely refined palate to come up with a criticism as devastating and specific as "good, not great". Shut up, Ted. Another random diner agrees with Richard that everything was tasty. The judges are sufficiently cowed.

Mark worries that the spring roll will be a bit dry, but thinks the rest of the fourth course will be terrific. Christmasy music greets their entrance into the dining room. Please, I'm trying to put winter behind me. Ryan describes the movie scene for the diners, and Mark describes the food. It's quail breast with carrot puree, some cranberry chutney, and quail spring rolls on a watercress puree. Everyone loves the food, and Richard appreciates how they took a specific scene and brought it into the food. Aisha enjoys the carrot puree. Spanish guitar accompanies Zoi and Antonia as they plate their food. Richard helps put a swoosh of cauliflower puree on their plates as Antonia carefully slices the lamb. They describe the movie to the diners as a film about passionate women, which they wanted to bring out in their food by using vibrant colors.

Tiffany: "So we made this plain-ass lookin' plate."

Eesh. It's true. The rack of lamb looks fine (if maybe a bit rare), and the saffron cauliflower puree and romesco sauce are probably great, but it just looks like a hunk of meat next to a glob of goo. The judges jump on the fact that the food has little to do with the movie or the story of passion that Zoi and Antonia wanted to convey. Aisha agrees that everything tastes fine, but nothing about it is transcendent or even Spanish. Ptom wishes he would have gotten a single chop, rather than the sliced version. Lisa and Stephanie take out their course. Lisa does a good job of pulling the wool over the diners' eyes by pretending that serving meat has anything to do with Top Secret. Stephanie outlines their food. It's everything mentioned before, except that the braised short rib is contained in a wonton. Everyone seems to enjoy different aspects of it. Daniel likes the flavor. Aisha likes the creativity. A random lady likes that they made something that she can't make at home. Hehe. I apply that standard to eating out as well. You go, random lady! Ted says he doesn't know how much the food connects to the movie, but doesn't seem to care.

Kender: "At least nobody picked Pink Flamingos."

Everyone leaves except for the judges, and the chefs do their usual fret 'n' sweat back in the kitchen. Ptom thinks the first course was whimsical and fun, and Daniel liked their surprising flavors. He thinks it was the most professionally executed dish, and Ted appreciated that it was subtle enough to serve as a first course. Ptom didn't like Spike and Manuel's choice of fish, and that the chard had no connection to the dish at all. Nikki and Jennifer's was neither remarkably good nor remarkably bad. Mark and Ryan did a nice job of translating their movie's story to the food, both in flavor and color. Speaking of color, Antonia and Zoi's food had none, and wasn't anywhere near as passionate as they supposed. Stephanie and Lisa's flavors were great. The judges reach a decision, and head out. Manuel worries that his course was too simple to compete with the other chefs'. "But no worries," he says. "I'm in this for the long haul!" Zoi says that the other contestants all tasted her course and found it wonderful, so she hopes the judges appreciate it.

Commercials. I'd rather have the water polo team than that guy in his fuel-efficient car.

The chefs have another fret 'n' sweat in their own Kitchen. Padma comes back and summons Richard/Andrew/Dale and Stephanie/Lisa to the Judges' Table. Daniel is wearing an ill-advised leather jacket. Don't worry about it, Daniel. I can't wear them without looking like a giant poseur, either. Padma tells the chefs that they are the top two teams. Hugs, kisses, and hand slaps are exchanged. Richard's recipe idea is credited for most of the win, though Ted also liked Andrew's faux caviar. Stephanie gives credit for their course to Lisa, and says they just built off the caramel sauce. Ted says that he worried the caramel sauce would compete with the reduction sauce already on the plate, but that everything worked together. Padma throws it over to Daniel to announce the challenge's winner. It's Richard, who led his team to devise a wonderful, creative course. He's happy, and says the challenge has taught him to be himself. I wasn't aware he was trying to subdue his natural tendencies thus far, but whatever. Padma asks him to send out the losers.

Said losers are busy being whiny and defensive back in the Kitchen. I guess they've been taking lessons from Ted. Nikki has the confidence to admit that Richard cooks in a style that's vastly different than hers, but Spike and Zoi are comforting themselves by insisting that wasabi and white chocolate could never, ever be combined into anything even remotely edible. The winning teams come back and announce Richard's win. Zoi gives him a dirty look, and there is notably tepid applause for him. He says that the judges would like to see Spike/Manuel and Zoi/Antonia.

Odd Asian music. Gong. The losing teams enter. Man, it's only been four episodes, and all of these folks have been in the bottom before, save Manuel. "I'm on top of the world!" he grins. Padma asks Zoi and Antonia why they think they're in the bottom, and Antonia admits surprise, saying she thought all their food turned out well. Ptom says the problem was more about their story and the way they sold it. How they're able to refrain from a massive eyeroll is beyond me. Zoi is already close to tears. Antonia stays a lot more together, explaining that their food's connection to the movie was a simple one, and yes, they should have made that clearer at dinner. I'm liking Antonia more and more these days. Zoi's certainly not doing the ladies and their "It's time for a female to take home this title of respect!" attitude any favors by falling apart every time she's faced with criticism. Padma seems to accept Antonia's explanation, and turns to Spike and Manuel.

Spike explains that he's currently cooking Vietnamese food, so that's why they went with the food they did. Ted asks about the chard, and Manuel says he thought it was vibrant. Ptom says that the chard itself wasn't the issue, but that it had no connection to the summer roll. He also wonders if the two of them spent their entire budget, which Spike says they did. Ptom says he didn't see that value reflected on the plate. They get into a discussion about what Manuel contributed as far as ideas, and Manuel quite openly says that he wanted to learn from Spike about how he cooks, and isn't ashamed by that. That opens up the question of who would deserve to take the fall if this course is deemed the worst: the guy who conceived it or the guy who wasn't aggressive enough to take charge. We know how Ptom would vote. To his credit, Spike refuses to play the game that way, and doesn't advocate Manuel's elimination. The chefs are dismissed.

Back in the Kitchen, Zoi is still complaining about Richard's ideas, saying that if his course is what the judges are looking for, she doesn't have a chance. Jennifer sticks up for Zoi in interview, saying that it's unfair that she wound up in the bottom, when their food was spot on. Yeah, but there had to be another team in the bottom two. Even if the outcome of this episode weren't obvious from the first sixty seconds, I think we all know Zoi and Antonia wouldn't be eliminated for a weak story when someone else had bad food. Manuel knows it's going to be him or Spike. The judges repeat the same deliberations they had at the restaurant, adding that Spike made an ordinary summer roll, and Manuel didn't take any initiative. Manuel knows that's what they're saying, and is telling the others that it didn't happen that way at all. The judges make their decision.

Commercials. I love Target, but it wouldn't be my destination for anything wedding-cake-related.

Elimination. Antonia and Zoi didn't live up to their story, but their food was fine, so they're both safe. Spike and Manuel's dish was not only the judges' least favorite, but the least favorite of all the other diners as well. Ouch. Spike took the lead on the course, but Manuel lacks the drive and determination to be a leader. And we all know what that means. Manuel. Please pack your knives and go. WHAT?!?!?!?! This is coming completely out of left field! How could this possibly have happened? Spike gives him a big hug. Manuel takes the loss gracefully, shrugging that he's disappointed, but that it was a good learning experience. He thanks the judges for the opportunity. He tells the other chefs that "never in [his] life has he been surrounded by such talented and brilliant people". Aw. There are hugs all around, and he's applauded out the door. He closes by saying the experience will definitely affect the way he cooks and the way he sees food in the future. That's a good philosophy. Classy guy. It's a shame classy guys are cannon fodder on shows like these.

Overall Grade (without the asinine, naked foreshadowing at the outset): B+
Overall Grade (as is): C-