Top Chef: Dueling Duos

The chefs had to pair a dish with tequila, which also meant there was some tequila shots to be had. Then, they had to create a dish using game meat. I’m not the biggest fan of game meat so I don’t think I would have liked most of the dishes in the main challenge for this portion of the competition.

Quickfire Challenge

The guest judge for the episode was Tim Love, chef/owner of The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Ft. Worth. For the quickfire challenge, the chefs had to create a dish that pairs well with the tequila of their choice. They had a variety of tequilas to choose from Don Julio. Ty thought that Chris J. overcooked his chicken breasts. Paul saw Ty using clams and thought it was a perfect pairing to have something salty and briny with tequila.

Least Favorites


Heather – Reposado
Mango Avocado Salad with Rock Shrimp

Heather said she was trying to pair the shrimp with mango. Tim said he had a problem seeing how it paired with the tequila. He said the dish felt like she liked tequila and then decided to make a rock shrimp dish. He said he felt like it was a new special at a new chain restaurant.


Chris J. – Blanco
Pan-Seared Chicken with Lime Vinaigrette

Tim said the chicken was dry on the palate. It stuck on his teeth and he said the only highlight of the dish was the quinoa.


Sarah – Blanco
Fennel Risotto with Glazed Scallops

Sarah had tequila in the dish too. It was a bit overpowering. Tim said with the tequila in the dish, it was like adding lemon juice to cream. He also felt the risotto was undercooked.

Middle of the Road


Beverly – Reposado
Cold-Smoked Green Tea Oyster

Tim could taste a bit of smoke from the tequila and oysters. He found it interesting.


Edward – Anejo
Bok Choy Lettuce Wrap with Lamb

Tim said it was a very interesting pairing. Heather was in the background giving Ed’s dish a questionable look after hearing it had cactus and mango on the plate.


Grayson – Anejo
Sesame Cod with Tequila Brown Sugar Glaze

Grayson said she never drinks tequila. She’s from Wisconsin so she’s more of a beer girl.


Dakota – 1942
Lamb with Medjool Date Pistou

Tom found the date really sweet.

Most Favorite


Chris C. – Blanco
Raw Oyster with Tequila Tapioca Pearl & Sea Salt Air

Tim said it made him feel like he was at the beach. He also said that blanco is really hard to pair with a dish so he thought that Chris did a great job.


Lindsay – Anejo
Salmon with Fennel Puree & Brown Butter Sauce 

Tim said the salmon was cooked nicely. He could taste the tequila flavor all throughout the dish.


Ty-Lor – 1942
Steamed Clams in Thai Style Fish Caramel Sauce

Tim thought the tequila added a sweetness to the clams. The spiciness was a good contrast to the tequila and the greenery was good too. Tim picked Ty’s dish as the overall winner since it was simple and clean. He didn’t win immunity but he did win $5,000.

Elimination Challenge

The chefs were paired up for the next challenge by who they were standing next to at the time. That meant that Heather was paired with her arch nemesis, Beverly. Oh no! The chefs had to cook one course for a game dinner with each cooking one of the six courses featuring a favorite protein of their assigned guest chef. There was also a twist to the challenge. They would be voting for the bottom three dishes and those teams would be up for elimination. The judges would make the final decision about which team would be sent home, which meant a double elimination. The good news was the winning team would split $10,000.

While working on their dishes, Heather told Beverly constantly that she did not want her dish to be Asian. She said that her style was rustic American. Apparently, it was okay to create rustic American dishes over and over again, but Beverly making Asian dishes constantly was not acceptable. At another point, Beverly was saying she was not a fan of the onions being in the dish. Heather told her that it was part of her rustic style, so they would just have to compromise. Heather’s definition of compromise meant Beverly had to do it her way. Nyesha was annoyed with Heather in the last episode. Edward thought she was being a bitch. Even Grayson was being annoyed by Heather, but Grayson also had to deal with Chris J. She was worried he was going to get caught up trying to be too cute with doing some fancy techniques with the sweet potatoes.


Lindsay & Chris C.
Roasted Wild Boar with Kohlrabi Slaw & Farro Fried Rice

Jon Shook thought that if they would have left the marinade off, the boar would have shined through better. Tom thought the sauce was a nice addition to the dish, but he didn’t find the dish exciting overall.


Beverly & Heather
Five-Spice Duck Breast with Creamy Polenta & Pickled Cherries

John Currence didn’t think the pickled cherries work. Hugh Acheson said the duck breast could have been rendered a little more. He found it a bit rubbery. Vinny Dotolo thought it was a little too safe. Paul said he wished it had crispy skin.


Grayson & Chris J. 
Juniper Roasted Elk with Sweet Potato & Bouquet of Citrus Greens

Padma wondered why the sweet potato was cut like that. Chris started to explain he was trying to go for a chain link fence look, but it didn’t work out exactly. Grayson cut him off and said it was how they envisioned it. They wanted to add height to the dish and it did. The judges looked confused. Tim thought the meat tasted great. Bryan Caswell thought that when he saw the dish, it looked like something off a 1982 banquet menu.


Ed & Ty
Sorghum Quail with Pickled Cherries & Eggplant

Tim said the quail shined. He said he wanted the game to be the center of the plate and it was. Anita Lo said they managed to bring out all the earthy qualities of all the ingredients on the plate.


Dakota & Nyesha
Roasted Rack of Venison with Kabocha Squash & Beet Gratin

Bryan Caswell liked the dish, but the venison was a little blue for him. Tim said the venison flavor was nice. Tom really liked the gratin, but the venison was undercooked.


Sarah & Paul
Squab Breast & Sausage with Nectarine Pickles

Sarah really freaked out about the sausage. It did not turn out like she wanted. She was pretty upset but the judges liked it. Jon Shook liked the sausage and nectarines all together in one bit. Anita would have liked to see some more carmelization on the skin of the breast. Tom said the presentation was sloppy but it was a nice plate of food.

Judges Table 

Winners

Ed and Ty were chosen as the overall winners from the judges. They would be splitting $10,000. After that choice was made, then they had to go back into the kitchen and vote for the three losing dishes to send back to the judges.

Losers

After some bickering, it was decided that the elk, duck and venison dishes were the worst. Tom did point out that he didn’t think there were any bad dishes. Tom said he really liked all the components of the venison dish, but it was a game challenge and the venison was undercooked. Hugh thought the elk meat was cooked well, but the sweet potato on top was confusing. There was some confusion about the role Nyesha played on the team. She said when she checked on Dakota, it was too late to fix it. The judges were confused why she didn’t check in on her teammate throughout the process. Chris agreed that he shouldn’t have put it on the plate since it didn’t come out like he wanted, but he did think it went with the flavors of the plate. Tom felt like it was put on the dish because he was stuck on that chain link fence idea so he was trying to make it work.

Heather said she didn’t think they should be there for the duck. She said she thought she was there because she was top in the last challenge. I don’t think anyone thinks Heather is a threat at this point.  Tom asked Beverly a question, but Heather cut her off after one word and said their dish suffered since it was two chefs trying to create one plate. Apparently no one else had the same challenge. Tim said the first bite of the duck dish was good, but he felt it needed another 5-8 minutes of rendering. Tom said it did’t feel like a finished dish, but a random bunch of ingredients on a plate. Heather started to blame Beverly for every thing with the dish saying she made it too Asian. Um, no judge said anything about it being too Asian or if any Asian flavors made the dish unsuccessful. Heather brought up complaints about the last challenge, since it seems she hasn’t ever watched Top Chef before and learned they never look at past challenges when making a decision. They only look at the food in the current challenge. Dakota cut her off and said she didn’t like where the conversation was going and Beverly was a good chef.

Final Decision

Chris and Grayson were told that their dish was all over the place with too many competing flavors that didn’t work together very well. Dakota and Nyesha were told that the venison was really under cooked. Heather and Beverly were told that the duck wasn’t crispy, they didn’t render enough fat out and it seemed like there were two different dishes on the plate. They needed to work together to make a complete dish. Since it was a game challenge and the game that was least successful was Dakota and Nyesha so they were asked to pack their knives.

Dakota was devastated since she was in charge of cooking the venison. She did not like that what she did was sending Nyesha home. I wished that she had been on a team with Heather so she could have gone home instead of Nyesha, who seems to be talented.

Last Chance Kitchen

It was three chefs competing to get the title to say in the game between last week’s champ Whitney against Nyesha and Dakota. They had to create a dish only using a wok and cactus as the main ingredient.


Whitney
Cactus & Chicken Fried Rice with Sriracha & Soy Sauce

Tom thought the flavor and texture was nice. He couldn’t really taste the cactus all that much. It was a nice and traditional wok dish.


Nyesha
Asian-Style Scallops with Prickly Pear Garnish, Cilantro & Thai Basil

Tom thought it looked beautiful. He liked she actually used the cactus juice to make the sauce. He could taste the flavor of the cactus throughout the dish and the scallops were perfectly cooked.


Dakota
Shrimp Tostada with Watermelon & Prickly Pear Shooter

Tom loved that she understood how to get the slime out of the cactus. The shellfish was perfectly cooked. he found it to be a nice dish.

Overall, Tom thought that Nyesha used the wok the best and incorporated the cactus flavor into her dish with the most success. She won the chef’s jacket from Whitney. Dakota was thrilled Nyesha was still able to compete.

Questions

  1. What did you think of Heather and her “too Asian” comments towards Beverly’s cooking?
  2. What did you think about Heather bringing up the shrimp complaint from the last challenge at Judges’ Table?
  3. Do you think anyone will ever get beyond a two-win streak in Last Chance Kitchen?

Photos: Bravo TV

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