Disaster Relief

Top Chef - Season 11, Episode 2

Previously on Top Chef: Too many chefs arrived in New Orleans. Like, so many that I just sat here for a good forty seconds trying to remember who got eliminated last week. The newbies put their talents to the test by cooking for service in a muggy swamp, and though you'd think ice water would be refreshing in such a setting, it's not so great when it's used to water down your soup. Bye, Ramon! In happier news, Nina was coronated as the Queen of the Swamp with her meatballs, and wore the crown well. 18 chefs remain. Who will be eliminated tonight?

We may have had a week off, but for the poor, exhausted chefs, it's still the night of the elimination. And too bad, suckas, cause Padma essentially follows the dejected almost-losers back into the Kitchen, simply to tell everyone that their first Quickfire is starting right away. They'll have all night to make a gumbo that represents their heritage, and whoever wins will pull down immunity in the next Elimination Challenge.

The chefs head home, and soon litter the landscape with crockpots. Hometown boy Justin is the only one attempting to make a traditional gumbo; most of the others are trying their luck with something experimental. Carrie melds her Iowa background with her husband's Trinidad roots. Jason goes Polish by tossing in beets. The other hometown boy, Michael, is far cockier than Justin. He's not happy with his initial gumbo, and throws it out. He starts from scratch well behind everyone else, but essentially shrugs it off, because hey, he's from New Orleans. Gumbo is no big deal, right?

The next day, after a brief prep time to finish everything off, the chefs present their gumbos to Padma and guest judge Leah Chase, who is awesome. She's an elderly lady who knows how to dish out advice, praise, criticism, and anecdotes and have you hang on every word. The chefs are obviously anxious to please her, and why not? There are plenty of gumbos that look better than they sound, and vice versa. Shirley has thrown together an Italian/Chinese/Mexican fusion gumbo, which sounds rather off-putting, while Justin's pork rib with egg looks amazing. Leah tells one of the contestants that his gumbo reminds her of her mother, and he thanks her warmly.

Limecrete: "Hey, that's not necessarily a compliment. You don't know her mother."
James (as Leah): "She used to beat me and then pour hot gumbo down my back."

When the gumbo settles, Leah's bottom three are Smug Michael's hastily-thrown-together second attempt, Jason's beet concoction, and Patty's Puerto Richan mofongo gumbo. Oof, Patty. Pull it together, girl. On the flip side, Aaron redeems himself with a tasty prawn head gumbo, Carrie's violently green gumbo overcomes its...vibrance with terrific flavor, and surprisingly, Shirley's every-heritage-but-the-kitchen-sink is a hit as well. Carrie wins the challenge and immunity, which is a nice symbolic win for her marriage as well.

Elimination Challenge. The chefs are split into four teams based on who they're standing near. The four teams will run food trucks at a couple of building sites where Habitat for Humanity workers are still diligently trying to restore the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The teams shake out to be:

Yellow: Carrie, Carlos, Travis, Aaron, and Brian
Red:: Justin, Bene, Janine, Michael, and Nina
Green: Louis, Shirley, Stephanie, and Sara
Blue: Patty, Jason, Nicholas, and Bret

Trucks are selected. Menus are planned. Nothing much of note occurs except that Bene feels like his ideas aren't being heard, and he's not being allowed to contribute anything. I think it's his voice. It comes across like the voices of all the adults in Peanuts. After an uneventful shopping segment, the chefs get to prepping. Carrie admits that she has an obsession with dough. I guess I can think of worse things to gravitate towards. She puts her obsession to good use, rolling out empenada crust with a chilled wine bottle to keep the dough at the proper temperature in the New Orleans heat. Niiiiice. The Blue team is going for a seafood theme, and Jason agrees to act as host and expediter, cause he's so dreeeeeeeamy. Feh. He prepares all his sushi handrolls ahead of time, because if there's one thing that does seafood handrolls a world of good, it's sitting around in sweltering humidity.

The Habitat for Humanity workers sample all the foods, and are soon joined by Tom, Padma, Gail, and guest judge Susan Spicer. I like her name. She sounds like an intrepid girl detective or reporter from the '30s. Once service ends, Bret brags to the rest of the team that of course they blew the challenge out of the water, because unlike those other stupid teams, the Blue team has plenty of food left over. Umm....

Fret 'n sweat. The judges discuss the general success of the challenge, and the Yellow/Green teams are easily deemed the top two. Judges' Table. The Yellow team ultimately takes the team win, with Carrie scoring the individual win. Jeez. So she was top three in the first challenge, then won the subsequent two. I really underestimated her, and from the looks on the other chefs' faces, I'm not the only one. The Blue team is summoned to Judges' Table for some much less cheery news.

The problems are legion. Patty's tuna sliders were so-so, and when she casually admits that the tomato slices she tossed on top were pointless, you can practically see a Patty-shaped puff of smoke where her chances of winning the competition used to be. Not only were Jason's handrolls soggy, but they wouldn't have tasted good, even if prepared properly. Bret's ceviche wasn't cold enough to begin with, and then he ruined it further by adding scorching hot tostones. Nicholas' wasabi peas were a crappy garnish, but it looks like his mistakes are vastly diminished, thanks to the other three. Bret tries to bring up the leftover food as a selling point, and the judges patiently explain to him that having so much extra food is probably a sign that nobody much wanted it, like, DUUUUUUUUUUUUH.

So, it's Patty, right? It's got to be. While Carrie has been in the top of all three challenges so far, Patty has been in the bottom of all three. Plus, she never defends herself well at Judges' Table, being either overly emotional or overly dismissive. So, Patty, right? No! I'm gobsmacked when Jason gets the chop. Gobsmacked, but not disappointed. His arrogance was no great fun to watch, and seeing him taken down eighteen pegs is pretty damned satisfying, and just might do him a world of good. Naturally, he disagrees with his ouster, because he's super awesome and has a trendy haircut. Good bye, surfer boy. Maybe spend a little more time in the kitchen, and a little less at the gym.

Overall Grade: B