‘Top Chef’ Boston Ep. 9 Recap: ‘Big Sausage’
Holy moly, I am still recovering from last week’s episode. Just when I was expecting a letdown after the Restaurant Wars episode, Bravo stepped up and threw a 75-minute beast at me. Last week’s highlight was a Sudden Death Quickfire that brought George back into the game . Not only did he fight his way back onto the show, but he also notched a Top 3 finish in the Elimination Challenge and instantly upset the balance of the show. The other chefs weren’t shy about admitting George is one to watch out for moving forward.
With the show taking a two-week hiatus for the holidays (returning January 7), let’s get to the updated Ratty Power Index (RPI) heading into Week 9:
1. Doug: Riding a two-week winning streak. Need I say more?
2. Gregory: Was dragged down by a terrible team during “Restaurant Wars’’ but bounced back nicely with a Top 3 finish last week.
3. George: The Mike Isabella protege was eliminated in the very first Quickfire but won his way back onto the show in the Sudden Death Quickfire and followed that with a Top 3 finish. His return could change the rest of the season.
4. Mei: I had her ranked second going into last week and still think she’s one of the stronger chefs, but her undercooked lamb left a very bad impression with the judges
5. Katsuji: Oh, Katsuji. What to do with you? My early favorite has been flagging of late, biting his tongue on the losing team during Restaurant Wars and landing in the soft, forgettable middle last week.
6. Melissa: Coming up with a shrimp salad in two and a half hours for an Elimination Challenge will land you at the bottom of the RPI every time.
Before we get to this week’s episode, I have to address the issue of Last Chance Kitchen. In case you missed my last recap, the show introduced Last Chance Kitchen last week as a way for eliminated chefs to win their way back onto the show. A special two-part Last Chance Kitchen premiered online immediately after the episode. In the first Last Chance Kitchen, all of the eliminated chefs duke it out in a battle royale with only one victor. Moving forward, that chef faces the most recently eliminated chef one-on-one, and so on. Whichever chef is still standing at the end of the season gets a spot in the finals.
If you don’t want to know who is winning Last Chance Kitchen until the finals, please feel free to skip down to the Quickfire Challenge for the rest of my recaps.
One one thousand…
Two one thousand…
Three one thousand…
Still with me? Great!
For the first part of Last Chance Kitchen, the eliminated chefs had to re-cook the dish that sent them home — this time with a winning twist. Rebecca, James, and Joy (yeah I forgot their names too) cooked the top three dishes, but Tom chose Rebecca’s seared scallops as the best dish. For the time being, the other chefs (including Aaron!) are now gone for good (I think) and Rebecca was crowned the first winner of Last Chance Kitchen.
But she didn’t have very long to savor her victory.
In the second part of Last Chance Kitchen, Rebecca went up against Katie and Adam, both of whom were eliminated last week. The producers also threw in another curveball, saying that two chefs would move on instead of one. This week’s challenge was actually based on last week’s eliminations: Because Katie was eliminated for a “dry’’ rabbit and Adam was eliminated for “slimy’’ shrimp, ingredients that fall into both categories were arranged on a table and the chefs had 30 minutes to make a dish incorporating ingredients from both sides.
In the end, Adam’s salt-baked oyster and Katie’s stuffed morels were the two top dishes, and Rebecca was officially eliminated. Adam and Katie both move on to the next Last Chance Kitchen.
Quickfire Challenge Let’s just get this right out of the way: The official title of this episode is “Big Sausage.’’ Please get your giggling out of the way now so we can move on to the serious business. Really. I can wait.
This week’s Quickfire, with all due respect to the many great chefs who have appeared this season, featured the best celebrity appearance so far. Rob Gronkowski, he of the 76 catches and 1,093 receiving yards so far this season, paid a visit to the “Top Chef’’ set for this week’s episode. Clad in jeans and a bicep-baring blue v-neck, Gronk showed up looking for one thing and one thing only: Meat. And what kind of meat do you feed to a six-foot, six-inch tall tight end? A lot of it. The chefs were given one hour to make an inventive sausage from scratch.
Seemingly unable to stop himself, Gronk gave some extra instruction to the contestants, proclaiming that he needed “a big sausage.’’ “Me too,’’ Padma gleefully replied before skipping down the hall to tell her friends about the moment during 5th period Science. Unable to stop herself from flirting with the towering mound of man-muscle, Padma asked if she could call her Rob, and she told her he could call her “honey.’’ As the two bantered like an old married couple, I started to wonder if the Indian-born model and the 265-pound tight end from western New York might become an item.
Between the title of the episode and the flirting between Padma and Gronk, the sexual tension on the set was so thick you could practically cut it with a butcher knife. In addition to all the sausage puns (“Are you getting cocky?’’) and double entendre, there was a comment about Mei and Melissa being stuck in a “sausage party,’’ and there was also a reference to prophylactics that is better left unrepeated. Bravo after 10 p.m. can be an odd place. But you know what? That’s what happens when Gronk walks into a room. Meat and Sex. Yo soy fiesta, indeed.
Dishes Doug: Beer-braised pork sausage with onions and mustard Melissa: Wild boar and pork sausage with lentils, cucumber, fennel, and pickled red onion Mei: Pork sausage with ginger, garlic, fish sauce, avocado, coconut puree, and yuzu aioli Katsuji: Brisket and pork sausage with habaneros, cumin, coriander, ginger, and saffron rice Gregory: Pork and boar sausage with kaffir lime, chilies, lemongrass, garlic, cucumber, and carrot salad George: Pork and veal sausage patty with sunny-side up egg and potato dish
Verdict As you might expect, the chefs had some very different ideas of what Gronk wanted. Melissa and Gregory’s were too light and not nearly enough sustenance for a tight end looking to run over and through Colts defenders. Gronk loved Doug’s classic take on the sausage sandwich and George’s play on the breakfast sandwich. And even though the DC-based George was honest about his Redskins fandom, Gronk chose his dish as his favorite, saying it was one of the best breakfast sandwiches he’s had. Sure, George won immunity for the episode, but he’s also the diehard fan of a 3-11 football team, so Gronk wins. Gronk always wins.
Elimination Challenge For this week’s Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to brush up on their high school reading list. Nodding to New England’s rich literary past, the chefs were tasked with creating a dish inspired by a work from a famous New England author. A bookshelf containing works by Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Dr. Seuss (hometown: Springfield!), was rolled into the “Top Chef’’ kitchen, and the chefs had to choose which work would inspire them.
Author ChoicesGregory: Edgar Allan Poe Katsuji: Stephen King George: Dr. Seuss Mei: Henry David Thoreau Melissa: Nathaniel Hawthorne Doug: Emily Dickinson
After choosing an author, the chefs had a very brief window to study up and choose a specific work to base their dish. The chefs would have three hours to cook for 75 authors and literary buffs at Steel & Rye, one of my favorite restaurants in the entire area. This week, the judges were joined by local star and James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Maws (Craigie on Main in Cambridge and The Kirkland Tap & Trotter in Somerville), as well as Francis Lam, Editor-at-Large at Clarkson Potter.
This week’s Elimination Challenge went down with a notable lack of drama. Most of the attention centered on Katsuji who was making a stew that, when properly rendered, would resemble a bloody crime scene. From the very beginning he was committed to taking the horror theme seriously — think blood splatter patterns — while still creating an appetizing dish. Among the other chefs, Mei and Melissa seemed to put the most thought into their dishes. I chalked that up to Thoreau and Hawthorne being their respective source materials; both dishes were meant to evoke a connection to the Earth and the environment.
DishesGregory: Seared beef tenderloin, grilled hen, parsnip puree, beets, and crispy nori (inspired by “The Raven’’) George: Calamari, mussels, clams, pan-seared branzino, purple potatoes, and red peppers (inspired by “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish’’) Mei: Roasted vegetables, charred onion soil, Tom Kha snow, radish, and carrot top vinaigrette (inspired by “Walden’’) Melissa: Seared halibut, spring vegetables, morels, charred baby corn, asparagus, peas, and mushroom broth (inspired by “The Blithedale Romance“) Katsuji: Fabada with white beans, chorizo, jamon serrano, short rib, veal osso buco, red beet puree, and hot sauce (inspired by “Carrie’’) Doug: Grilled carrot bisque with grilled carrots, orange, cumin vinaigrette, radish, and dandelion (inspired by the line “Bring me the sunset in a cup’’)
Judge’s Table With only six contestants left, the margin for error is almost null. Going into Judge’s Table this week, you had to figure that they would once again pick three top dishes. But with George safe thanks to his Quickfire win, it was going to come down to two chefs, and the even the slightest mistake could mean the difference staying and going home. Luckily this week’s dishes split evenly with the judges; they seemed to really like three of them, and had at least one issue each with the other three.
The three dishes the judges like the best belonged to Doug, Mei, and Melissa. Francis Lam was wowed by Mei’s presentation and how she evoked a snowy scene on Walden Pond, Tony Maws thought Doug’s soup showed balance and good technique, showing “emotion on that plate,’’ and Gail went to bat for Melissa’s presentation and her technical execution.
After listening closely to the judges and watching their visual cues (honed from years of watching), I usually have a decent idea about who will be picked as the winner. That wasn’t the case this week, as I had it pegged as an honest toss-up. Although I would have given a slide edge to the other two chefs, Tony Maws announced that Mei was the winner. Judging by her facial expressions, it didn’t seem like she very surprised. She’s been cooking confidently all season, and she had this challenge down cold the minute she chose Thoreau as inspiration.
The judges least favorite dishes were from Katsuji and Gregory. Francis Lam and Gail seemed to like Katsuji’s dish more than others. Gail gushed about how he cooks with his heart on his sleeve, and Francis admitting that he kept going back for more despite initial reservations about Katsuji’s plate. Tony Maws though, thought the dish was muddled from both a visual and flavor perspective. Katsuji also didn’t do himself any favors when, after all of his bluster about his place, he couldn’t remember Stephen King’s name when introducing his dish.
On Gregory’s dish, Padma was adamant that, from a visual standpoint, it didn’t say anything about the Poe work it was inspired by. She also questioned his use of two different proteins, saying that the tenderloin overshadowed the bird on the plate, a.k.a. “The Raven.’’
But as much as the judges focused on presentation for this challenge, the final choice came down to flavor. Although Katsuji’s presentation garnered more praise than Gregory’s, the judges couldn’t seem to get past the combination of flavors in his dish, and he was sent home. A tearful goodbye ensued. Did you get choked up during his farewell when he started talking about this daughter? Oh good, me either. I just had a piece of dust in both of my contact lenses.
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“Top Chef Boston’’ Cheat Sheet
Who Should’ve Won
Judging by my recent power rankings you might be surprised to hear this, but I actually expected Melissa to win this challenge. The top three dishes each had their own unique high points, but the judges seemed to be especially wowed by Melissa’s presentation. She also seemed genuinely inspired by prospect of cooking a dish based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work, and that counts for something with me. She is also due for a win.
When she picked her author, I admittedly thought, “here comes another uninspired vegetarian dish from Melissa.’’ Even though it’s not something I would order in a restaurant, the judges clearly would have disagreed with me. Mei, as usual, executed her dish brilliantly and clearly connected with the author. The judges placed a high value on the dishes having a clear visual connection to the author, and while all three chefs did that, but I thought Melissa did it best. I have been all over her case all season, so this week I have to tip my cap and call her “my daddy.’’
Who Should’ve Been Eliminated
First off, let’s call a spade a spade and say George got kind of lucky. He picked a good week to win immunity because the judges, especially Padma, were pretty unimpressed with the presentation of his dish. Knowing he was cooking something inspired by Dr. Seuss, the judges were expecting big, bright colors on the plate. That’s not what they got, but it didn’t matter because he was untouchable this week.
Katsuji took the challenge very literally and really, who can blame him? He chose Stephen King and for some reason the other contestants were surprised when he said he would make his plate look like a crime scene. Have any of them ever read a Stephen King novel? What exactly were they expecting to see portrayed on the plate? Joy? Light? Hope??? Yes, it may have been a little too on the nose, but Katsuji gave the judges what they asked for. The problem, though, is that the judges weren’t bowled over by the flavors. As he is wont to do, Katsuji threw 857 different flavors onto the plate and hoped for the best. If you’re going to make the plate look like a “C.S.I.’’ crime scene, the flavors better make up for it.
So, unless you win out on Last Chance Kitchen, I guess this is goodbye, Katsuji. We laughed, we cried, and we were relieved when Bravo stopped using subtitles for you. You have a made-for-TV personality and the “Top Chef’’ kitchen will definitely feel a little emptier without you. You will be missed. Goodnight, sweet prince.
Boston Eye Candy
Bravo has officially run out of b-roll! Old North Church, Quincy Market, The Custom House, Zakim Bridge.
Insider Info
You couldn’t tell just from watching, but there was a bit of drama during the filming at Steel & Rye this summer. As reported by Deadline.com and the Boston Globe, the local Teamsters Union allegedly used “racist, sexist, and homophobic language’’ to harass Padma and staff during the filming of this episode. According to the coverage, the Teamsters were upset that Bravo hired nonunion personnel to drive trucks for the shoot, and picketed outside the Milton restaurant.
Weekly 45-Second Interlude During Commercial Break
The chefs were asked what the name of their biography would be. For overcoming odds in an awesome way, Doug said his book would be titled, “Wrestling Tigers! The Doug Adams Story.’’ Katsuji, who is clearly a man of many, many, words, went with, “The Curious Case of Chef Katsuji Tanabe from a Mexican Kosher Restaurant Catholic Immigrant In A New Country.’’ Not sure that would fit on a cover, but I would totally buy his tale of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll’’ for a day at the beach.
This Week’s Lesson
“Bart The Raven’’
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