Bravo’s hit reality series, Top Chef: New York, has whittled the competition down from seventeen chefs to just five. In last week’s episode, Jamie Lauren went home for her poor interpretation of Chef Eric Ripert’s black bass dish. Stefan Richter remains the contestant to beat as he continues to win challenge after challenge.
Quickfire Challenge - Molecular Gastronomy with Wylie Dufrense
The remaining five contestants enter the Top Chef kitchen and are greeted by host Padma Lakshmi and guest judge Wylie Dufrense, chef and owner of wd~50 Restaurant in Manhattan. Chef Dufrense is known for his molecular gastronomy techniques. One of his favorite foods is eggs and he challenges the chefs to create something new and unique with eggs for this week’s Quickfire.
Most of the chefs try to follow in Chef Dufrense’s molecular gastronomy footsteps, but Carla Hall knows little about the subject. Instead, she decides to focus on humor and create green eggs & ham in honor of Dr. Seuss. While Fabio Viviani, Leah Cohen, and Hosea Rosenberg all fall to the bottom, Carla beats out Stefan with her whimsical dish.
Elimination Challenge - The Last Supper for Culinary Legends
Padma announces that they will need the knife block to find out what their final challenge is. Each knife contains the name of an important figure in the food world. The chefs will have to prepare the last dish that the culinary master would want to eat. Leah pulls the knife for Wylie Dufrense, who asks for eggs benedict. Carla will cook a simple meal of roast squab and peas for Jacques Pepin. Lidia Bastianich requests a simple meal of roasted chicken and potatoes, which Fabio will cook. Stefan will make salmon and spinach for Marcus Samuelsson. Hosea draws Susan Ungaro and will prepare shrimp scampi and tomatoes provencal.
The chefs are given $300 and thirty minutes to shop for ingredients at whole foods. They will have two hours to prepare their meals before serving. The chefs take time out to have dinner at Perilla, the New York restaurant owned by Top Chef Season One winner Harold Dieterle. During the cooking process, the chefs hear a commotion and discover that Fabio has broken his finger. He refuses to go to the hospital and fights his way through the rest of service.
Ten minutes before the first dish it to be served, head judge Tom Colicchio enters the kitchen and tells the chefs not to embarrass him in front of the impressive panel of chefs. The chefs serve their meals to the judges at a table inspired by the painting “The Last Supper.” Padma, Tom, and judge Toby Young join Wylie Dufrense, Jacque Pepin, Lidia Bastianich, Marcus Samuelsson, and Susan Ungaro to taste all the dishes.
Judge’s Table and Elimination
All five chefs are called to the judge’s table. While there are criticisms of each dish prepared, Carla and Fabio are selected at the top two for their simple and delicious roasted birds. Fabio is declared the winner and they leave the room while the other chefs face the judges. Stefan’s salmon was overcooked, Leah’s eggs were undercooked and her hollandaise was runny, and Hosea’s tomatoes were not really tomatoes provencal did not have the classic markings of that dish. Ultimately, Leah was asked to pack her knives and go. Carla, Stefan, Fabio, and Hosea celebrated that they will all be competing in New Orleans.
Stay tuned for the next episode of Bravo’s hit reality series, Top Chef: New York as the remaining four chefs compete in New Orleans to make it to the last round. New episodes air on Wednesday nights at 10 PM. Visit the Top Chef: New York Page for more episode summaries, cast profiles, and gossip on the show.
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