Episode 4

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Going into week 4, we're beginning to see more of who can hang or not. After floating the first few weeks Katianna came up big and showed that she is a threat. It will be interesting to see who else will start to show where they stand amongst the pack. Corwin opens the show working out and talking about how competitive he is. I'm personally waiting for him to turn up a bit and show us what he's got. A lot of screen time so far but not much performance in the kitchen. 

 

This week starts with guest judge Michael Cera joining the Top Chef Kitchen. They are going to play a game of trivia to determine the chef's cooking times in the kitchen. Based on how high you place, you get more time to cook starting with 30 minutes, 20 minutes and 15 minutes. The chefs are then asked to break themselves into teams which is always interesting to see how the chefs clique together.

 

Yellow Team: Henry, Kat, Katianna, Tristen

Purple Team: Lana, Massimo, Paula, Zubair

Green Team: Cesar, Corwin, Shuai, Vinny

 

Green takes an early lead with 2 points, using a strategy of hitting the button no matter what. Corwin is too fast for anyone else to get it together and the Green team goes up 8 nothing before Purple Team finally gets a point. This opens the floodgates and then Yellow Team gets a point. After the trivia game, the rankings are as follows:

 

Green Team: 30 Minutes

Purple Team: 20 Minutes

Yellow Team: 15 Minutes

 

For this week's QuickFire Challenge, the chefs will need to make dishes using at least three ingredients that were the answers to the trivia questions they got correct.

 

Favorite Dishes

 

Kat - texture was really good, sauce was the star

Shuai - salad was so delicious

Corwin - nice balance and great scallop

 

Least Favorite Dishes

 

Henry - didn't come together, sloppy

Massimo - pretzels were soggy

Tristen - liked the sauce, but didn't go well together

 

Corwin wins his first QF of the season and $10,000!

 

This weeks Elimination Challenge will have the chefs creating a savory dish by deconstructing a classic Canadian dessert. The chefs draw knives to see which dessert they will be assigned. 

 

Figgy Duff - Corwin, Tristen

Butter Tarts - Zubair, Henry

Nanaimo Bars - Paul, Kat

Jam Jams - Shuai, Katianna

Potato Chocolate Cake - Lana, Vinny

Date Squares - Massimo, Cesar

 

The chefs will have 30 minutes and $100 to shop at St Mark Market and then 2 hours to cook before service. Before going shopping the chefs get a chance to try the desserts. Tristen is feeling confident because the Figgy Duff has a lot of flavors found in Caribbean cooking. Vinny is going to reinterpret how eggs are used in the dish and is looking to pair them with caviar. Corwin is going to do a fried chicken dish by using Figgy Duff spices to make jerk seasoning. Katianna is a little worried about her dish because it's a spice cookie, but wants to test her creativity. Henry talks with Emma from Season 19 before service, he admits that the competition is harder than he thought. He's been struggling so it will be interesting to see if this is foreshadowing after the fact. He started off hot but has been low and in the middle since Week 1. 

 

Kat is going to make a "mustard custard," I think this is clever but we'll see if it plays, mustard is a divisive condiment.  We're starting to learn more about her and if she can tap into her personal life for inspiration she could go far. Massimo and Cesar have a similar idea and are both using Moroccan flavors. Both of these guys haven't done much yet so I'm excited to see them go head to head. Massimo never shuts up but hasn't really performed at all. Way over confident. Henry decides to souvee his duck because it is less crowded. He's worried that he won't get it done right so feels like this is a risk. Zubari's duck isn't rendering like he wanted to. He is going to let it cook a bit longer, there's a chance he could overcook it. When he goes to serve it seems uneven on the cook. At service, Henry isn't able to sauce one of his plates. Complete mental error. 

 

Nanaimo Bars

 

Kat - Nanaimo duck breast with mustard custard, duck skin & walnut nanaimo crumble & soy cacao ganache

Judges Feedback: very chocolate forward, loved the mustard custard, fantastic job

 

Paula - Cacao-rubbed braised pork belly with coconut vanilla vinaigrette roasted beets & chocolate graham cracker
Judges Feedback: subtle nod to the nanaimo bar, didn't get the chocolate rub

 

Potato Chocolate Cake

 

Vinny - Roasted yukon potatoes with chocolate miso glaze & caviar vin blanc
Judges Feedback: the potatoes were the star but could have been more chocolate forward

 

Lana - Cacao and potato gnocchi with braised lamb and pickled shallots
Judges Feedback: very chocolate forward, but a bit of a miss

 

Date Squares

 

Cesar - Lamb tartare with date & shallot puree, roasted carrot puree & bunuelo
Judges Feedback: enjoyed the texture, incorporated the sweetness

 

Massimo - lamb tartare with ras el hanout crisp, date jam, harissa & ras el hanout yogurt
Judges Feedback: really liked the idea, but harder time finding the date, didn't love the texture

 

Cesar seems to have won the lamb tartare round based on judges feedback alone.

 

Figgy Duff

 

Corwin - Jerk marinated fried chicken, with miso raisin BBQ sauce & cabbage slaw
Judges Feedback: flavor comes through so well, chicken was cooked perfectly

 

Tristen - Pepperpot with braised lamb, lamb fat madeleine & pickled grapes
Judges Feedback: impressed he did madeleine, lamb is beautifully braised

 

These seemed like the two best dishes so far based on judges' feedback. Both naiked the concept as well cooked tasty dishes. 

 

Jam Jams

 

Katianna - Rye porridge with molasses glazed mushrooms, raspberry & bacon confit
Judges Feedback: some texture but the porridge is cold and slimy

 

Shuai - Tsukune with raspberry pepper jelly, tare, chilled napa & hot mustard
Judges Feedback: flavors are really interesting but didn't love the texture of the meatball

 

Butter Tarts

 

Henry - Seared duck breast with brown sugar corn syrup glaze, mushroom crumb, jus & parsnip puree
Judges Feedback: elements are present but not very butter tart, duck was under cooked, no jus on Gail's dish

 

Zubair - Seared duck breast with sheermal, pecan & cashew korma
Judges Feedback: appreciated the aesthetics, but individually the components were a missed, duck was not good

 

It was an interesting EC as there were not a ton of loved dishes. Going to judges table I think the Figgy Duff round is definitely on top with a lot of candidates for the bottom table. 

 

Top Table

 

Tristen

Corwin

Kat

 

The winning chef is Tristen and he now has immunity for next week!

 

Bottom Table

 

Shuai

Zubair

Henry

 

After the judges feedback, it was hard to see who would be eliminated. There were not many redeeming qualities about any of the dishes. The duck definitely gave Zubair and Henry trouble. Shuai just made a bad meatball. This seems to be one of the more in depth judges tables that we've seen so far this season, which makes it seem like it was a tough decision between the three. 

 

Zubair is eliminated. Luckily for him, he is playing to come back vs the reigning Last Chance Kitchen champion, Bailey.

 

Note that the person you chose for LCK Winner is NOT who comes back this week. It will be the person that comes back at the end of the competition. 

 

Next week is a double EC, so there will be twice as many opportunities for points for Eliminated Chef. 

 

In League News, teams are still struggling to get points with only two hitting double digits this week. Team Reuben/Liz have another strong week with 11 points to keep them in first place. Team Leshner had 10 points which puts them in second place overall, only 2 points behind Reuben/Liz. Team Becca/Scott are in third place with 21 points, despite being in the negatives this week. Team Keber is in fourth place with 10 points and have been slowly adding points the past two weeks starting off with zero week 1. I expect to see a lot more points as the bad chefs start to thin out, so keep submitting those picks!!

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Episode 3

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Corwin and Shuai are talking about missing home. We'll see if there is more focus on them this episode, because if so, it can only go one of two ways. This week's Quickfire Challenge has the chefs making their own version of a Jamaican patty. Corwin makes Jamaican patties regularly and the pressure is on him to perform. Lots of chefs have choked making a dish that they normally do outside of the Top Chef kitchen. It will be a good chance to see if he can step up. This is an interesting challenge as it was done in two parts, I believe that this may be the first time a QF has had an intermission. 

 

Favorite Dishes

 

Katiana - flavorful and dough was light

Zubair - two sauces were creative

Shuai - scallion pancake was good

 

Least Favorite Dishes

 

Kat - fell short on the dough

Mossimo - filling too tough

Cesar - dough fell apart

 

Katiana wins her first QF of the season! 

 

For the Elimination Challenge, each chef will need to create a dish best-served cold. Anya is excited about this as she has a good arsenal of cold dishes. We'll see if she can rise to the occasion, unlike Corwin. As a twist, the chefs will need to choose a covered dish with a hockey phrase. Inside the dish, there will be food they must use in relation to the phrase. 

 

Vinny - Biscuits

Corwin - Apple

Massimo - Muffin

Zubair - Muffin

Tristain - Eggs

Shuai - Eggs

Anya - Eggs

Henry - Grapefruit

Kat - Grapefruit

Katianna - Licorice

Cesar - Licorice

Paula - Peanut Butter

Lana - Peanut Butter

 

After choosing the muffin, Zubair comments that he's happy that he has immunity. He's not feeling inspired, which I can't tell is because of the muffin or because he knows he can't go home. He needs to swing big and show what he can do in that position. Anya will be making a pine needle ice cream, which sounds good to me. The way that she ties the outdoors into her cooking is really interesting. Her cooking is primed for Top Chef if she can adapt well to the challenges. Unfortunately, her cake batter seems weird, and in an odd type of panic, she starts throwing ingredients in to fix it. By the end of service she's having major issues with both her cake and ice cream. Katianna is struggling to get the flavor from the licorice root and will need to use candy now.

 

The chefs enter the Top Chef kitchen to find a table set up on a mini ice rink. I personally enjoy it when the judges are in the kitchen because they can feel the pressure and see what the chefs are doing. Anya is re-doing both her ice cream and cake, we'll see if she can pull it off. Massimo is running around the kitchen making a mess, does not look like he is focused. Mossimo also has issues with his ice cream so is going to use liquid nitrogen for the first time. This could go either way and it seems like he cannot get it right. Katianna can't get her licorice flavor right and pivots at the end to add more flavor. 

 

Vinny - strawberry shortcake, biscuit-infused ice cream, fresh strawberries & strawberry soda

Judges Feedback: ice cream was very good, want to see more of the biscuit

 

Corwin - scallop and apple agua chile, variations or apples

Judges Feedback: has come kick but really well balanced, ice cold, restaurant dish

 

Massimo - banana muffin cremuex, chocolate muffin ganache, speculoos meringue & roasted muffin banana ice cream

Judges Feedback: muffin flavor is hidden, kind of a mess

 

Zubair - king salmon crudo with fennel, jalapeno achar, lemongrass gel, chass & muffin crumble

Judges Feedback: liked the crumble but not a muffin dish

 

Henry - grapefruit leche de tigre with salmon, charred avocado & grapefruit sorbet

Judges Feedback: beautiful but the spice muddled the flavors

 

Kat - grapefruit & scallop tartare with "paloma" agua chile & grapefruit snow

Judges Feedback: absolutely stunning, fireworks of different flavors 

 

Katianna - chilled chicken & licorice soba with cucumber daikon

Judges Feedback: a dynamite dish, subtle and elegant

 

Cesar - chilled shrimp salad with licorice tea & licorice ice cream

Judges Feedback: put together a really nice dish

 

Paula - ceviche jipijapa with sablefish, cucumber tartare, avocado cream & fried quinoa

Judges Feedback: didn't love the dish, no peanut flavor, bland

 

Lana - chilled peanut soup with pickled shrimp, suya poil & candied peanuts

Judges Feedback: showed a lot of restraint, peanut butter was the star

 

Tristen - beef tartare with garlic toum, shattered benedict aioli, egg yolk jam & shattered deviled egg

Judges Feedback: loved the deviled eggs, really enjoyed it

 

Shuai - sweet corn semifreddo with sweet potato mochi, cardamom creme anglaise, ginger graham cracker & meringue

Judges Feedback: liked the flavor, wanted the texture to be creamier 

 

Anya - pine needle ice cream with sea buckthorn cake

Judges Feedback: ice cream didn't set, no flavor in the cake

 

After service, I think that Anya and Paula are clearly on the bottom while Katianna and Tristen should be two of the top table. 

 

Top Table 

 

Tristen 

Katianna 

Corwin

 

Katianna wins! She went two for two in challenges this week and the sweep bonus is in effect! She's been hanging in the middle but this is a big breakout week. 

 

Bottom Table

 

Anya

Paula

Massimo

 

Anya is eliminated. She struggled all episode and I believe it was pretty clear this would be the outcome. 

 

In league news, EVERYONE. LOVES. VINNY. He was chosen as Top Chef by 60% of the group. Other popular chefs for the final table included Katianna (chosen 7 times), Shuai & Zubair (chosen 6 times). This makes sense based on their strong starts, but more than any other season, this one felt harder to choose the final table for some reason. 

 

This week though, there were points abound! Team Reuben/Liz led the pack with 23 points, followed by Team Becca/Scott with 20 and Team Leshner with 19. This was Team Leshner's highest scoring weekly points total ever and it propelled him into 3rd place with 22 total points. Team Reuben/Liz take over first place from Team Stroose with 23 Points and are now tied with Team Becca/Scott. All three of these teams chose Katianna who won both the QF and EC, putting the sweep bonus into effect. 

 

Week 4 picks now available to submit! 

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Episode 2

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It's the second week of the season and we're already getting a poutine challenge! Really excited for this one, Gail described how so likes her poutine so well. For this weeks Quickfire, the chefs will put their own version of poutine in 30 minutes. It must include a starchy vegetable base, a sauce and a cheese. Massimo is from Montreal, so it will be interesting to see what he makes since it is such a big dish there. 

 

Favorite Dishes

 

Massimo - beautiful package

Kat - most traditional but had a ton of depth

Shuai - potato was perfect and a great glaze

 

Least Favorite Dishes

 

Henry - sauce was great but the pancake was spongy

Bailey - loved the fries but too many elements

Paula - liked the flavor but sauce was too wet

 

Shuai wins his first QF Challenge of the season! he mentioned that he practiced poutine before the competition, so good to see that he came prepared. 

 

This week, Daniel Boulud is the guest judge for the Elimination Challenge. The chefs will be in two teams of 7 and must create a brunch menu, with each chef doing one dish. In tradition of the sugar shack, each dish must involve maple. The chefs will have 2 hours to cook at Dnaiel's restaurant before service. The chefs then draw knives for the second time in two weeks to pick their teams. 

 

Brown Team - Lana, Shuai, Cesar, Zubair, Tristen, Paula & Corwin

 

Green Team - Kat, Katianna, Henry, Anya, Massimo, Vinny & Bailey

 

Vinny has immunity and offers to make a souffle; it's super difficult, and his team is worried about the execution. In the end, they relent and let him do it. We'll see how this plays out. After the chefs check out from Whole Foods, they are greeted by Kristen in the parking garage. She let's them know that they are getting another 2% of their budget to shop at the market for additional ingredients. Each team will be shopping for ingredients for the other team that must be included in their dishes. This will be interesting to see how the chefs play it and if they really try to sabotage each other or not. The Brown Team choose cooked lasagna and truffle oil. The Green Team gets half a pizza and candy. Neither options seem too detrimental to me off the bat. 

 

Prep seems to be going smoothly until Bailey's filling breaks and she has to start over. Corwin is feeling the pressure to get his eggs done with only 25 minutes. He thinks some of his eggs looked undercooked as they begin to serve. Definitely looked liked a scramble (no pun intended) and left the plastic on his dish. Henry is worried about the oil as he fries his chicken. It has a lot of seasoning and he's worried about how it will affect his flavors. Katianna is worried about her seasoning, adding some extra before service. In the end Bailey pulls her tarts out earlier than she wanted too and is worried. 

 

Brown Team

 

Lana - Maple cured salmon, maple vinaigrette, meyer lemon, everything bagel spice

Judges Feedback: salmon was great, maple flavor was there but subtle

 

Shuai - Toad in a hole with maple togarashi cured yolk, bechamel, miso maple butter & pizza

Judges Feedback: very good, the pizza worked

 

Cesar - poached lobster, curr biscuit, maple hollandiase 

Judges Feedback: really great, light, fresh, lobster perfectly cooked, biscuit is too dry

 

Zubair - tandoori maple fried chicken, scallion corn cake, spice maple butter, sweet maple yogurt

Judges Feedback: chicken is delicious, really flavorful

 

Corwin - rum maple tamarin, glazed pork, belly, chawanmushi, with steamed seeds & scallions

Judges Feedback: texture is off, inconsistent and overspiced 

 

Tristen - steak and eggs, jerk strip loin, dukkah & maple jus gras, rice grits

Judges Feedback: meat is beautifully cooked and season

 

Paula - maple peach french toast, candy corn creme anglaise, & peach gummy Italian meringue

Judges Feedback: very sweet but very satisfying, good job incorporating the candy

 

Green Team

 

Kat - congee with maple bacon chili crisp & soy maple jammy eggs

Judges Feedback: delicious, good hangover dish, heat playing with sweet

 

Katianna - maple cured salmon tartare with whipped silken tofu, housemade furikake & daikon maple leaves

Judges Feedback: light, came together nicely, wanted more maple

 

Anya - syrniki with macerated strawberries, whipped maple syrup & Siberian pine cone jam

Judges Feedback: tasted like cheesecake, pinecone was a trip

 

Henry - fried chicken, polenta, chicken gravy, maple chili ginger honey

Judges Feedback: wanted the fried chicken to be more moist, some wanted more gravy

 

Massimo - steak & eggs with wild spinach & maple lasagna bordelaise

Judges Feedback: very savory, egg cooked beautifully, lacking maple flavor

 

Vinny - maple & cheddar souffle with truffle oil

Judges Feedback: all ingredients in balance

 

Bailey - maple tart with whipped yogurt, pine nuts & maple brown butter pineapple

Judges Feedback: maple was there but came through as sweet, tart was under baked

 

While it's hard to say which team did better without a direct head-to-head comparison, I would say that Brown team would be winning based on the judges feedback alone. Brown Team wins the Challenge as they used the maple the best way. Zubair wins the EC with his friend chicken and has immunity for the next EC.

 

Green Team is on the bottom, with Henry and Bailey having the least favorite dishes. Henry's issue was the cook of his chicken, the oil ended up causing issues. Bailey did not have enough flavor and her tarts were cooked poorly. It feels like she's going home when comparing her to Henry. Bailey is eliminated and heads to LCK.

 

Team Stroose is coming out of the gate big in Week 1 at the start of their sophomore season. This is their highest ranking ever, having never broken the Top 3. Team Steven H is in second place and off to another hot start. Last season he held either a top 3 ranking for the first seven weeks before an epic collapse leading into the second half of the season. In third place, there is a three way tie between Team Hutty, Team Becca/Scott and Team Leshner. 

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Episode 1

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....AND WE'RE BACK!

 

Having to pick a knife upon arrival instantly is a GREAT WAY to start the season. It doesn't let the chefs get comfortable and starts the competition right away. The new prize package is great in my opinion. Not only do they get the $250,000, the feature in Food & Wine Magazine and the Aspen Classic showcase, but now the highest level of Delta Status, $125,000 in travel, plus a hosted dinner at James Beard House in NYC. By far the richest prize pool in the show's history.

 

The Quickfire winner will not get immunity, which I love because it makes them way more competitive. Only the Elimination Challenge winner will receive immunity for the next elimination once they've won. 

 

Before the Quickfire Challenge is revealed, the chefs are each asked to pick an ingredient from the pantry. They are then broken into teams based on the knives they chose when they arrived to the show. Team challenges are always a great way to start as it let's their personalities show. Who can work within the time, who can work as a team, who has a strong personality, who can turn an apple into a bowl. 

 

The first QF Challenge of the season has the chef's getting 30 minutes to create a dish featuring six ingredients — the three ingredients chosen by the group members, and three ingredients selected by host Kristen Kish, head judge Tom Colicchio, and judge Gail Simmons. Kristen picked tomatoes, Gail picked chives, and Tom picked clams.

 

Purple Team Ingredients: Corn, Fresno Chile, Corn

 

Green Team Ingredients: Bok Choy, King Oyster Mushroom, Maple Syrup

 

Blue Team Ingredients: Cabbage, Fresno Chile, Dried Black Olives

 

Yellow Team Ingredients: Apple, Fennel, Corn

 

Red Team Ingredients: Apple, Corn, Portobello Mushroom

 

Favorite Dishes

 

Yellow Team - puree was beautiful, flavorful, and had contrast with dimension

Green Team - highlighted every single ingredient, maple syrup was there but not overpowering

Red Team - Apple was gimmicky, but it actually actually worked to flavor the soup

 

The Yellow Team takes the first QF win and wins $15,000.

 

5 Chefs who represent the 5 regions of Canada enter the Top Chef Kitchen. They have brought along a pantry of ingredients from their region which include:

 

West - Pacific Salmon, Salt Spring Island Lamb, Red Fife Wheat, foraged Mushrooms, Hazelnuts, Plums

Prairie - Ribeye, Walleye, Red Lentils, Sour Cherries, Tomatoes, Cold Pressed Canola Oil

Central - Rainbow Trout, Peaches, Corn, Ice Wine, Pea Shoots, Pork

Atlantic - Cod, Dulse Seaweed, Potatoes, Snow Crab, Blueberries, Screech Rum

North - Beets, Carrots, Crowberries, Turbot, Arctic Char, Oats

 

For this week's Elimination Challenge, the chefs must create a dish using the regional ingredients to transport the judges through Canada. The teams then choose which region they want to cook for. Yellow goes first since they won the QF, they then choose the next team to choose, and so on. 

 

Yellow Team - Central 

Purple Team - Prairie

Red Team - Western

Blue Team - North

Green Team - Atlantic

 

After all the teams have chosen the chefs are told that they must use three of the six regional ingredients from your pantry. This is also an individual challenge, so each team will be playing each other with one chef on the top, middle and bottom. A great twist that most of the chefs were most likely not expecting. The chefs head out to Whole Foods for their first shop, which goes smoothly across the board. 

 

The chefs enter the kitchen to start their two hours of prep for the EC. Paula is going to make a mole, which usually takes more time but she's going to try to get it done. She overcooks some of the lamb on the grill and pivots to using the oven. Vinny is worried about timing but thinks that his dish will help him show his technique. Anya is going to show her Russian culture by making beet caviar, which sounds amazing. Bailey is going to be making a carrot risotto, which is a brave move. This may be the first time that anyone has made a risotto in the first challenge. Mimi seems scatterbrained and overboils her potatoes. She seems to be struggling with the pressure already and seems to start her pork a little too late. Tristan leaves his curry on the stove to keep it warm and forgets to plate it in the heat of the moment. Lot's of chefs having issues with the clock in Week 1. 

 

Western Region

 

Lana - Seared salmon with dawadawa cream, lamb fat roasted mushrooms and hazelnut gremolata

Judges Feedback: Had good texture, good restraint

 

Vinny - Confit salmon with miso-hazelnut butter mushrooms & consume

Judges Feedback: Perfectly cooked, subtle with full of flavor, not a bad bite in it

 

Paula - grilled lamb with mushrooms mole, hazelnut, pipian & plum salsa macha

Judges Feedback: Lacked spice, lamb cook was not consistent

 

Prairie Region

 

Kat - pan friend walleye, wild rice with tomatoes & smoked sour cherries

Judges Feedback: a lot of dishes missing ingredients, including the protein, a lot of flavor but was incomplete 

 

Henry - Ribeye tartare with toasted lentil aioli, sour cherry chimichurri, cumin & lentil cracker & egg yolk custard

Judges Feedback: juicy tar tar but the cracker was great, top vote of the three

 

Corwin - Grilled ribeye, red lentil, puree with tomatoes & sour cherries

Judges Feedback: nice cook on the beef, puree flavor is good, but it felt disjointed

 

Central Region

 

Cesar - Corn butter poached trout, grilled radicchio with corn & pea shoot dressing

Judges Feedback: did enjoy the flavors, good balance, great bite

 

Mimi - Grilled pork loin & potato puree with corn beurre monte & peach relish

Judges Feedback: beige, muddy, potatoes tasted instant, pork was dry, nothing cooked right

 

Katianna - Pork loin katsu with miso, corn & pea shoot gravy & kimchi peaches

Judges Feedback: peaches were one of the best bites, but the gravy was divisive 

 

Atlantic Region

 

Tristan - Poached cod with snow crab & dulse mousse, butter poached snow crab with potato & dulse crumble

Judges Feedback: curry would have been nice but could have overpowered it, cooked perfectly. 

 

Shuai - Steamed cod with braised daikon, snow crab & egg drop sauce & crispy dulse

Judges Feedback: cod is beautifully cooked and crab is so complimentary

 

Massimo - Cod "en ecailles" with buerre blanc & smoked dulce

Judges Feedback: tongue and cheek but wish the cod was cooked nicer, still very good

 

North Region

 

Anya - Ukha with arctic char, potatoes, beet caviar, & rye cracker

Judges Feedback: really beautiful connection to the region, sourness of the soup is fantastic, cracker was ok

 

Zubair - Meen moilee with turbot, beet & crowberry achar

Judges Feedback: really well done but the ratios were off, did put himself into the plate

 

Bailey - Carrot risotto with confit arctic char & pickled beets

Judges Feedback: not the worst risotto ever on Top Chef but not a good risotto

 

After service, it seemed like there were some clear winners and losers with the Atlantic Region really being the only universally liked team from the judges. I don't see any of them going home regardless of placement. 

 

Top Table: Vinny, Cesar, Anya, Henry and Shuai

 

Vinny wins the first Elimination Challenge of the season and now has immunity for the next week's challenge. 

 

Bottom Table: Paula, Kat, Mimi, Massimo, Bailey

 

All of these chefs had reason to be in the bottom table but Mimi and Kat are singled out as the least favorite dishes. Without much deliberation shown between the judges, Mimi is eliminated and sent to Last Change Kitchen. 

 

Good first episode, and I think we can already see which chefs are going to sink or swim this season. This episode we will start putting in our weekly picks, so get them in!!