Top Chef

I finally watched last weeks episode last night and I must say that I was slightly disappointed. I have finally gotten into this show but it is still not filling the void left by Project Runway.

This past episode featured the chefs preparing basic everyday foods and trying to expand on them. The Quick Fire Challenge was to reinvent the taco (is that even possible?) for a more upscale (fine dining) restaurant. There were many that had issues with this challenge only because Mexican food is more street than anything but the creations were creative (for the most part) and well presented. Richard won immunity and then the cheftestants (love that word) were told to split into two groups. The Elimination Challenge was then presented; in this challenge the chefs had to get food from a neighborhood and then prepare food for a block party in this same neighborhood. The Red team (Andrew, Dale, Spike, Erik, Jennifer, Ryan and Zoi) really tried to focus more of the style of food that would have been normal for a block party. The Blue Team (Richard, Stephanie, Mark, Manuel, Antonia, Nikki, and Lisa) seemed more focused on creating food for the judges and it apparently worked. Neither team blew the judges away but in the end the Blue team won and Stephanie won the challenge overall. Erik (big bald guy), because of his soggy corn dogs, was sent home.

I counted on this episode (and then stopped because it got stupid) and Andrew used the f***bomb over 7 times. Also, Spike is extremely full of himself (I guess you have to be) and I am amazed that he thinks anyone can even cook near him. Jennifer and Zoi (the lesbians) were on the same losing team this week. You know that they were sweating it out to see who was sent home. Has to be hard to be on a show with someone you love and that you are trying to beat.

This show is so hard to watch objectively because we have no idea what the food tastes like. I hear the ingredients and think, "that sounds good, or "that sounds horrible" but unless I am able to actually put it in my mouth, it is hard to know who is actually a really good chef. Who do you pull for?