Part 2 of “Restaurant Wars” delivered. Then again, this is the food industry we are talking about; delivering can be key.
Some horrendous food got served throughout the course(s) of this two-parter.
A mess at lunch with the orange team (a/k/a District LA) dragged through into dinner prep time, putting them at a huge disadvantage, and long odds to win at BookMaker.eu.
The dinner lineup for District LA:
Phillip, front-of-the house
Amar, executive chef
Kwame and Jeremy, the ones that screwed up lunch, were the line cooks
By the time the lunchtime clock expired, District LA still had to feed 10-15 tables that never got served (left hanging in Pt. 1). It cut their dinner prep time in half.
The orange team just shrugged, realized they had nothing to do but try to execute as best they could, and what came out was a mess. As Tom said, “Someone’s going home because of bad food,” and he wasn't lying.
Phillip did dictate that other guests would be served while the VIP table’s food was prepped. Amar became passive-aggressive, as did Kwame because they have a hard time with Phillip.
The time crunch showed in the dishes. While the judges said they wanted more bold courses after what they considered a “safe” lunch menu, they didn’t want it to taste so awful that Gail and Tom made nasty faces as they put their utensils down after one mouthful of Amar’s dish.
Then there was the cocktail handed to the judges when they arrived at the host station. Phillip thought it would be a nice touch.
While some of the judges loved getting booze right away, Tom was bothered. It’s not protocol to do that at a fine dining establishment and he noted that later on.
The dinner lineup for Palate:
Karen, front-of-the-house
Isaac, executive chef
Marjorie and Carl, line cooks
The grey team also had a bold menu for dinner and there were too many dishes to prep - particularly for Karen - for them to feel comfortable with what they were serving.
Marjorie filled in for Karen because she took on too much and it was she, not Karen, who trained the wait staff.
When Karen felt like her dishes were close enough for someone else to take over, she ran to get dressed and started acting like a host/hostess. The judges noted that she was at her post to greet them.
Isaac got the gig; it was up to him he to handle the rest of Karen’s dish prep, plus run the kitchen. He had a lot to prove after being picked last for the team, which irked him to seemingly no end.
Marjorie was once again given the task of making a dessert. She also made biscuits for the judges to eat prior to even ordering their food. They were impressed.
The execution of the dishes was far better than that of District LA. It was no-brainer territory when it came to choosing the winning team.
Additionally, Isaac was declared winner. Not only were both his dishes delicious and plated well, he got kudos for his exec chef role. Isaac whooped and hollered in his one-on-one time with the camera and vowed never again to be chosen last for any team.
Phillip blamed what he referred to as "the judges’ of Top Chef subjectivity about what is delicious". Kwame relayed how he tried to alert Phillip, leading to Tom scolding each of them for caring about their individual hides rather than the team performance as a whole.
Gail noted that their dishes from lunch through dinner had no cohesion and were haphazardly chosen.
None of it mattered, as Phillip was ready to go. He was convinced that his dish was perfect, just not appealing to the judges. And if that meant eviction, so be it. It did.
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