‘Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen’ review: Did Janine Booth continue streak vs. Michael Sichel?
Sometimes, it is pretty easy to get a feeling when someone from “Top Chef” is going on a “Last Chance Kitchen” winning streak, and it’s typically the person who is pretty likable on the show, and you sit there wondering how in the world she managed to go home in the first place.
The mistake that Janine Booth made to send her home came via frying technique, which she luckily may not have to do too much of the rest of the way in this part of the competition. Instead, she had to square off this week against recently-eliminated Michael Sichel, who uses the word “baby” so egregiously that you would think that he is an employee at Sterling-Cooper in the early 1960s. On paper, Michael believed that he had this risotto-making challenge in the bag, given that he has an Italian background and seems to understand the components that go into making a great one. Then again, we’re pretty sure that Michael feels confident about every little thing he does, regardless of if it is merited or not.
Janine, in the end, just looked and acted like a better chef during this challenge. She prepared her risotto earlier, took more care with the rice, and also did not have the Great Butter Caper going on like Michael did. He claimed that he couldn’t find any butter, whereas she claims that she didn’t use all of it. This segment would have been so much funnier if there was a camera shot of the butter sitting in the fridge, since we willnever know who was right. The butter issue probably derailed Michael, but it also felt like he would have lost, anyway.
Based on our own preference alone (mostly because we are not such a fan of mushrooms and more mushrooms), we would have actually eaten Michael’s first if we were sitting in a restaurant; but, we understand that there is more than goes into this that just what you like. Janine won the challenge, and this was a pretty entertaining ten-minute episode. The best part of it, as the already-eliminated chefs noted, was just sitting there and watching Michael cook. The only thing that keeps this from perfection is that the winner was obvious from the moment the battle started. Grade: A-.
Want to read some more news when it comes to “Top Chef”? Then just click here to see why Michael was sent home in the first place in a challenge that brought Lea Michele into the proceedings.
Photo: Bravo