‘Top Chef: New Orleans’ review: Jason Cichonski, ‘surfer boy’ extraordinaire?

To us, there is no greater entertainment then seeing something like a contestant on a reality show failing to be in on the joke. This is definitely what seemed to happen at times this week on “Top Chef” as Jason Cichonski was under the belief that people were ordering his food during the Elimination Challenge themed around food trucks because they liked it, when we suspect they may just have wanted to look at him a while longer.

In all seriousness, though, we do feel for Jason. He seems like a guy who is passionate about food, but the edit so far has made him out to be this sort of cocky dude who seems to be easily distracted.

Also, we’re bummed to see him over in “Last Chance Kitchen” so early, since mistakes aside, he really was not the worst from what we saw. His motivation behind preparing his salmon early seemed to just be to give customers a good experience, possibly thinking that this would matter a la Restaurant Wars. Meanwhile, you had someone in Patty Vega who has really been on the bottom of every challenge so far, and she put a tomato on a sandwich that she knew wasn’t the best. Granted, we know that we’re no food critic and we didn’t even taste the dish; but we always look at this from an entertainment perspective, and in cutting Jason this early, we’re going to miss out on some of that drama.

One thing that we did learn through this episode is that Carrie Mashaney is a force to be reckoned with. Not only did she win the Quickfire Challenge themed around gumbo, but she then won the Battle of the Food Trucks, as well. She is a little too “aw shucks” about her wins (much in the same way as Taylor Swift is at an awards show), but we’ll excuse that when her food looks so delicious. Really at this point in the competition, it’s hard to know who the favorites are; but clearly, she is in the top four or five.

This was overall a fun installment, and at least there is an effort being made to introduce us to this huge cast. We do hope soon that there are challenges that are a bit more indoor-themed, though, since it will be easier for the chefs to show what they can really do.

Overall, what did you think about this “Top Chef: New Orleans” episode? Be sure to share your thoughts below! If you want to check out some more news related to the show, including our review of the “Last Chance Kitchen” special coming tomorrow, just be sure to click here.

Photo: Bravo