Who is ready for another Top Chef recap? It looks like tonight they will be paired up and BOTH members of the losing team, will be eliminated. Or maybe the two least favorite dishes across the board? I have not had time to see the previews tonight, but I really prefer going in with no knowledge of the episodes that I recap. I do feel like it is unfair that there are so many team challenges this year. Side note: I am catching up on The Thing About Pam on NBC. It’s really good and based on a true story. The guy that is the voice for Dateline is the snarky narrator.
The Quickfire
Monique starts off the show talking about her reasons for being on the show. She’s journaling. And that is all we see at the of the penthouse. That strikes me as odd already. Then they head to the first challenge and Jae sees a lot of biscuits and she is already intimidated because, she doesn’t bake. She just likes to get baked. Good grief. There are only three ingredients in biscuits. I’m worried the Damarr’s drop biscuits are too big. Especially, since he is sharing an oven with someone. What the heck are some of these people sous vide (ing)?
Click Here For More Top Chef Recaps
First up is Jackson who has prepared a scallion biscuit with crispy cheese and an egg. Sounds good to me. Sarah’s biscuit has a mushroom gravy biscuit and a poached egg. That’s a no for me dawg. Robert did a corn biscuit with macerated strawberries. Ashley FRIED HER BISCUIT. I will leave it at that. Damarr’s drop biscuit seems okay. Jae overworked her dough. Evelyn’s biscuit will be in the top. Budda has never made a biscuit before and it shows. Is this a two hour show? Or will we have a LCK at the end? Budda, Jae and Ashleigh are in the bottom three. Demarr’s big biscuits are in the top along with Evenlyn’s biscuit and Jackson’s biscuit. Jackson’s biscuit won!
The Elimination Challenge
We go straight to the elimination challenge with no commercial break. It seems we will send the two people home one at a time? As in doing two quickfires and two eliminations in one episode. Since Jackson won the quick fire, he gets to pick his partner first and they get an extra thirty minutes of cook time. Wow! That is huge! He picks Budda. The rest just pair themselves up. They each have a dish that that looks identical to their partners. It’s a taste challenge They have to determine the ingredients of their dishes by taste. Ut Oh! Jackson, you in danger, girl! Oh they are now telling them what is in their dishes. Good news for Jackson. One of the paired chefs will be going home together.
Click Here For More Top Chef Recaps
Everyone thinks this is the most difficult challenge so far. Budda love Wylie, the guest chef judge and really wants to impress him. Ashleigh and Luke are working well together. Evelyn and Jo are working well together as Jo tries to make her cauliflower puree thicker. All five chefs are seated to judge the chefs. First up are Jackson and Budda. Just by looking at it I think they are the winners. The judges love it except for Tom. Next up is Robert and Sarah. Theirs don’t look EXACTLY the same but it is damn close. Robert’s panna cotta didn’t quite set up right. Next up is Nick and Jae. It’s a big hit. Even with Tom.
Joe and Evelyn are next. The judges are mostly impressed, but they didn’t like Jo’s pork belly. Ashleigh and Luke are up next. They could be in the top. Then, Monique and Damarr take their turn. Both of their dishes are totally identical. That’s a good start. They love it!
The Judges’ Table
Ashley and Luke and Jackson and Budda are the top two. Jackson and Budda win again. How is Jackson doing this with no sense of smell and taste. Budda is thrilled he impressed a chef he looks up to. Sarah and Robert and also Evelyn and Jo are in the bottom. Robert is in trouble for his panna cotta. They also were not good with the shrimp mousse. Then Evelyn talks about the struggling with her purée. Jo tries to defend her pork belly. Let the vagicide continue? Evelyn stands behind her dish. Good for her. She’s crying. Everyone heads to the stew room. The judges choose to send Robert and Sarah go home. They are devastated.
Click Here For More Top Chef Recaps
It appears that they are tacking the Family version of Top Chef onto this. I’m not really into that but I’ll probably just watch in on Saturday. I still haven’t watched any of the LCK episodes. So please don’t spoil me!
making two dishes that look identical but made of different foodstuffs and taste different is a truly imaginative challenge. how top chef challenges continue to surprise season after season makes it one of my favorite shows. i’m rooting for jackson. he’s regained his taste but not his sense of smell.
OH! I somehow missed that! Was it said on the show?
last week
I dont understand if everyone is on the same page with that. You can lose your sense of smell and you wont be able to taste anything. If you lose your sense of taste you cant determine sweet, sour, salty, bitter. At least that is how I interpret it.
That was a really cool challenge. The first dishes up with the pinwheels were so creative.
I stayed for the family show, following. One of the fathers almost made me tear up. He said his daughter, who is very small in stature but very effusive, gets teased at school a lot and hates going some days. He then said she is having the time of her life on the show because she’s with all of these like-minded kids, making new friends and stuff. I think they’re doing very well in the competition, too. It’s a fun show to watch because they have obviously told the judges to keep things upbeat and positive so as not to traumatize the kids on national TV. Much more of a feel-good hour compared to an hour of Housewives.
AMEN.
Family Top Chef is really good. It was her uncle not her father. The uncle is an amazing uncle.
I am also impressed with Jackson! The fact that he is still in AND winning is impressive since he still can’t taste due to a bout with Covid. He is also has not told anyone.
Was last week the football themed challenge? He was in good shape on that one because he let the team captain taste things!
I really enjoyed this challenge.
NOT gonna spoil but LCK has been really good so far! I LOL’d on the first episode …. Tom gives a sinister little laugh in the intro.
Wish I could try the food!!
Thanks TT!
Oh Let me go check that out! Thanks.