‘Top Chef: Boston’ episode 7 review: Restaurant wars is a massacre
When it comes to “Top Chef” challenges, there are two that we really like to enjoy: Ones where the competition is so close that almost anyone can go home, or ones that are just outright landslides. That’s what we had on Wednesday night’s new episode for a variety of different reasons during Restaurant Wars.
The biggest reason for the slaughter was just that Four Pigs, the restaurant fronted by Doug, was so outstanding. Adam was tremendous running the front of the house, almost all of the food was good, and there was teamwork and an overall theme.
As for Magellan, we knew that this would be a disaster almost from the very beginning. Just the idea of serving food from around the world was way too lofty of a theme, and that lack of cohesion causes palette problems for a diner. With that being said, everything else was such a mess that this was the least of the concerns. Keriann was completely disorganized in the front of the house, and more than that, she came across as stressed out. If this is the impression you are giving the wait staff, it is going to be very hard for them to have faith and confidence in you. Katie did not help matters as executive chef, either; she did not have a firm command on anything, even if her own dishes were okay.
Then, there is the dessert, which Katsuji changed under Katie’s orders to do so. The dish was just so ill-conceived that it really did not matter whether or not it was changed after Keriann’s initial design; Katsuji had a point here that you really should not be cooking crepes at any time except right before they go out to the dining room. Fixing the mousse would not have helped that tremendously. Katie still did mess up by not communicating anything to Keriann during service.
Also, we have to take a minute here to call out Gregory, which pains us since we really like him this season. Why take such a back seat? There’s a difference between allowing someone else to shine, and strategically just playing it safe so that you can recover some of your mojo. Nobody really seemed that excited to be executive chef here, and this could have been a chance to make a big statement. Instead, he looks like the person who stays afloat the longest on a sinking ship.
From the moment we learned of Magellan’s theme, we learned that they were doomed. It was probably Keriann’s time to go, but Katie and Katsuji (who we find gloriously entertaining, mostly because of his frequent rabble-rousing) probably are not long for the show, either.
In the end, this episode was great fun for us, even if the elimination could have been mapped by Magellan even before making his trip. Grade: A-.
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