I guess I got this one wrong. I mentioned at least a few times here in this column, over the course of this season of "Top Chef," to keep your eyes on Kwame. Well, if you did, then you saw a door closing on the contender last week. It's over for Kwame.
We’re really getting down to the wire, and Marjorie wants the ladies well-represented in the end. Last week the Quickfire Challenge was to create a dish spawned from chop suey, an Americanized Chinese dish. Each judge was given 30 minutes, a wok table, and the knowledge that there is no immunity to be won today, only an advantage in the elimination challenge.
Jeremy was using the word “umami” when he talked about his dish so we knew it would be trendy. Amar has never worked with a wok. Marjorie was really mutilating her lobsters while they were still alive and then Carl cooked them in a pan with their shells on.
Kwame‘s advantage, according to Kwame at the time, was that most of the guest judges "are before his time", and therefore he was less nervous cooking for them. This Jedi mind trick did him few favors.
Jeremy’s dungeness crab stir fry was a success, and so too was Marjorie’s lobster dish. Guest Martin Yan called Carl's scallops overcooked. Though hewas smart to use oil blanching, Kwame’s dish was not well done. Isaac‘s General Tso’s style chicken was too starchy. Landing in the bottom were Carl, Kwame and Isaac, making the top dishes Jeremy’s Marjorie’s and Amar’s. Marjorie won the Quickfire challenge and the advantage.
This week’s elimination challenge was to come up with a fast casual concept that could work in any city in America. The guest judge for the elimination challenge was Adam Fleischman of Umami Burger, which sells an impressive 1million burgers per week in its 25 stores. The concept had to be broad enough for mass appeal, but also personality-driven. The chefs had to create an entire pitch, concept, and menu, and serve one dish to 150 diners and potential investors.
Padma brought reinforcements in the form of the six most recently eliminated contestants. Marjorie’s advantage was that she got to pick her partner first, plus she got to pair all of the other contestants. Each of the contestants said they were fine working with anyone…except Phillip.Marjorie immediately picked Angelina as her partner.
She put Jeremy and Jason together, Carl and Chad, Amar and Karen, Isaac and Wesley, and Kwame and Phillip because they clashed during Restaurant Wars.
Jeremy decided to name his restaurant Taco Dude, which worked for me. Kwame made chicken and waffles and bought frozen waffles to do it. It's like he wanted to go home.
Carl went with a Mediterranean theme, and Isaac made gumbo.
Pasta Mama by Marjorie was excellent. It’s a difficult fast-casual concept to execute with all fresh pasta and fresh sauces, but it went over. Taco Dude came up short, with Jeremy describing it as a “gastropub with a rooftop garden and hot chicks." It was panned. When they got to Pio Pio by Amar the judges had their issues but nowhere near Taco Dude.
The Judges’ Table
Top: Marjorie & Carl
Bottom: Kwame & Jeremy
Eliminated: Kwame
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