‘Top Chef: Seattle’ review: Who went ‘teriyaki terrible’?
Early on this season, we were critical of “Top Chef Seattle” for a number of things, in between the returning players twist and the new “Last Chance Kitchen” twist that potentially gives chefs three kicks at the can.
However, there’s really nothing negative that we can say at all about this episode that aired the day after Christmas. First things first, thanks to Bravo for actually giving us something new to watch tonight on a day when TV is usually pretty much dead space. Not only that, but there was all sorts of great food this week, from a fun oyster-related Quickfire to a smart and stellar elimination challenge that was pure “Top Chef”: allowing chefs to be creative based off of a twist. This time around, it was all about roller derby. The contestants were paired up, and each team had to create a dish inspired by the nickname of a designated roller girl.
Overall, there was really so much to love about the creations that came out of this, whether it be an “inside-out” chicken, a tempura skewer that let you have a temper-tantrum all over the plate, and a stuffed jalapeno that was really so much more than your traditional party’s stuffed jalapeno.
Sadly, the bottom two dishes were among those that at least made an attempt at pushing the envelope. Sheldon and Josh (a frequent member of the Bottom Club) were in trouble for serving tempura that was too soft for its own good, whereas Bart and the ever-loquacious Josie landed in danger over a dish that had several cool components (forbidden rice, beets, and spices), but none of them worked well together.
There was a part of us that seriously thought that Josh would be sent home over questioning the judges for picking the jalapeno as the winning dish, but Bart was appropriately sent home after continually struggling to season dishes to the judges’ likely. This is clearly a guy who is used to seasoning dishes a certain way, and maybe it works for him in real life. However, a panel of judges all agreed that this was not the way that good food should be done on the show.
Overall, do you think that this was one of the better episodes of the season? If you want to see what is happening at the moment when it comes to “Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen,” be sure to head on over to the link here.
Photo: Bravo